Above: St Thomas

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A few weeks after the news of a significant solar investment in the United States Virgin Islands, a few smaller-scale green energy projects have received funding from the US Department of Agriculture.

The funding, which comes from the department’s Rural Energy for America Progarmme, will target seven entities in the Virgin Islands.

“I am pleased that our local businesses and agencies are proving once again that they can successfully compete for federal funding and, in this case, help to address the high energy costs in our community, further demonstrating that this necessary diversification is indeed possible,” Delegate Donna Christen said Monday.

REAP offers funding for farmers, ranchers and small businesses to purchase and install green energy systems.

The funding totals just under $100,000 for seven projects ranging from the installation of solar arrays to a wind turbine project.

In early June, the US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority signed solar power and purchase and interconnection agreements with three companies to provide energy for the territory, which lost its primary source of fuel when the HOVENSA refinery closed earlier this year.

That project is projected to produce 18 megawatts of solar power, approximately 15 percent of the territory’s peak load.