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After nearly 20 years of political grandstanding, missed deadlines, and empty promises, the long-dormant Geothermal Project in Nevis is now officially under federal management—an intervention the Drew-led administration says was unavoidable due to persistent mismanagement and stalled development under successive Nevis Island Administrations (NIA).

In a recent interview, Federal Minister of Energy, Hon. Konris Maynard, confirmed that the Federation has finally moved to assume national oversight of the geothermal resource, declaring that the era of Nevis’ exclusive control—marked largely by stagnation—is over.

“Prior to this administration, it has always been sketchy about whether the federal government and the Nevis Island Administration were working together to bring about the advancement in geothermal that was needed… We decided as a federal government and the national parliament to move a resolution confirming that the geothermal resource on Nevis will be considered a federal asset.”
— Hon. Konris Maynard, Minister of Energy

Maynard further emphasized that the NIA holds no sovereignty and must align with the Federal Government—especially now that the project requires international financing, diplomacy, and negotiation beyond the island’s institutional capacity.

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20 YEARS, GLOBAL ATTENTION — AND NOTHING TO SHOW

Nevis once stood on the brink of history.

• First island in the OECS to pursue geothermal development
• Launched nearly two decades ago with promises of 100% renewable energy
• Touted globally as a future world model for green island states

Yet while Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Vincent, and even Montserrat have moved ahead, Nevis remains at square one, still seeking financing for exploratory drilling.

Instead of progress, geothermal became a political talking point, a PR line, a campaign slogan, and a fundraising pitch—but never a completed project.

Maynard did not mince words: the Federal Government is stepping in because the NIA has failed repeatedly to move geothermal beyond the announcement stage.

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A DIRECT CHALLENGE TO NIA LEADERSHIP

While Maynard refrained from naming individuals, the implications are explosive.

Successive Nevis administrations—from the Daniel era to Joseph Parry to Vance Amory to Mark Brantley—have:

• Guarded geothermal as a Nevis-only project
• Rejected deeper federal collaboration
• Promised groundbreaking dates that never materialized
• Blamed external forces—often St. Kitts—for delays

Now the Federal Government has effectively declared that strategy a failure.

Maynard’s comments imply that Nevis political leaders have spent two decades prioritizing political optics over actual development, keeping geothermal “close to the chest” to claim future credit rather than to build national energy security.

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A NATIONAL ASSET, NOT A NEVIS-EXCLUSIVE DREAM

The Government has now legally classified the resource as a federal asset, meaning:

Old Reality	New Reality Under Federal Oversight
NIA leads project	Federal Government leads project
Limited local financing	Access to international lenders, sovereign guarantees
Political battles between islands	National-level collaboration
Development stuck for 20 years	Federal leadership to accelerate execution

This shift signals a major constitutional power realignment—and is likely to spark new political tensions with the CCM-led NIA, which has historically defended geothermal as a symbol of Nevisian autonomy.

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THE BIG QUESTION: CAN PM DREW SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAILED?

If the Drew-led Federal Government succeeds:

• Nevis will finally produce clean baseload power
• St. Kitts may eventually receive geothermal-generated electricity via undersea cable
• The Federation could become a regional exporter of renewable energy

If it fails, geothermal risks becoming yet another chapter in the Caribbean textbook of broken megaprojects.

For now, Maynard insists that with federal intervention, the long-stalled dream may finally become reality:

“This intervention provides the leadership and management the development needs at this time.”

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AFTER 20 YEARS OF TALK — THE CLOCK HAS RUN OUT

What was once a world-leading idea has become a national embarrassment.

Now, the Federal Government has placed itself at the helm, signaling a decisive new phase:

• No more political monopoly by Nevis alone
• No more stalled negotiations
• No more empty promises

For the first time in two decades, geothermal on Nevis may finally move from slogan to reality—but only because the Federal Government has taken the wheel.