Following a lengthy process to secure suitable land, St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) has purchased 70 acres of land at Troumassee, Micoud to advance a planned 10 MW solar farm with battery storage facility. Once operational, the project is expected to offset the purchase of approximately 1.2 million gallons of imported fuel annually and marks another significant step towards reducing Saint Lucia’s exposure to international fuel-price volatility.
The land purchase was formalized on Friday, October 23, 2026. LUCELEC expects to commission the solar farm in the second quarter of 2028. It will build on the company’s existing 3 MW solar farm at La Tourney, Vieux Fort which was commissioned in 2018.
LUCELEC recognizes the financial pressure that higher fuel surcharges are placing on households and businesses. While this project will not provide immediate relief from current electricity bills, increasing the use of locally available solar energy is part of the Company’s longer-term response to the fuel costs driving those pressures.
The project advances LUCELEC’s 2035 Strategic Business Plan, which brings together renewable energy expansion, energy efficiency, grid resilience and increased customer value. The Company is working towards at least 50% of its generation mix coming from renewable energy by 2035, while maintaining reliable electricity supply and improving long-term affordability.
LUCELEC’s Senior Manager, Planning, Ormond Reece, said securing suitable land had been a major hurdle in advancing the project’s development.
“Today we purchased 70 acres of land at Troumassee Micoud for the construction of a 10MW solar farm. This project was conceptualized somewhere in 2019, but getting land was one of the major hurdles we faced in implementing the project. So, today, with the purchase of the land, we should be able to start the construction of the solar farm later this year.”
Managing Director Gilroy Pultie said the acquisition was significant for the expansion of LUCELEC’s renewable energy capacity.
“It really is the starting point of this project taking off. Since we built our 3MW solar farm, this was meant to have been commissioned I would say 6 or 7 seven years ago but because of the challenges of acquiring land, we have not been able to add significantly to that 3MW farm and so it is extremely significant from the point of view of our strategy too,” he says.
The inclusion of battery storage at the planned new facility will help manage fluctuations and support more consistent output in solar generation.
“The battery is really to firm up the output of the solar farm. So, usually when you have significant cloud cover, the output of the solar farm would drop so the battery will enable us to keep the output of the solar farm at a certain level,” says Mr Reece.
Mr Pultie linked the investment to LUCELEC’s renewable energy ambitions and Saint Lucia’s climate commitments, while underscoring that its benefits would take time to materialize.
“Our vision is really to help the country achieve its nationally determined contributions and by 2035 we expect to have 50% of the mix be renewable energy. The impact of this investment will not be realized until about 2 and a half or a little over 2 years, but it will help to manage the volatility of the fuel and the challenges our customers are facing today with the high price of fuel.”
By replacing a portion of fuel-based generation with solar energy, the project is intended to reduce exposure to fuel-price movements over time.
“It will not help today but in the longer term, any such volatility we have again, it will help to smooth out and avoid that significant impact on customers’ bills,” says Mr Pultie.
LUCELEC is in the final stages of negotiations with the contractor for the construction of the 10MW solar farm and expects to break ground before the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, LUCELEC is continuing discussions with the Government of Saint Lucia to explore possible measures to ease the impact of higher electricity bills on customers. In the meantime, customers experiencing difficulty paying their bills are encouraged to contact LUCELEC to discuss available payment arrangements. This immediate support is separate from the longer-term investment programme to diversify electricity generation and build a more reliable, resilient and sustainable energy future.