NEW YORK, Aug. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GridMarket, Sint Maarten, and Island Resilience Partnership (IRP) are thrilled to announce a public private partnership dedicated to helping Sint Maarten transition to clean, resilient, and affordable energy generation. Sint Maarten joins the Independent State of Samoa, the Kingdom of Tonga, and other governments around the world that have joined IRP and are leveraging the GridMarket platform to achieve their energy goals.

“In the midst of the climate crisis and global pandemic, it is imperative that governments strengthen the resilience of their infrastructure, economies, and public health,” said Sint Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. “Through this partnership, we are accelerating our transition to a distributed, affordable, and clean energy future with a committed and coordinated approach across all government agencies to expedite the successful completion of this initiative—delivering tremendous benefits to all Sint Maarten citizens and businesses. The GridMarket platform offers a streamlined, comprehensive approach to advancing our national targets and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By joining the Island Resilience Partnership, we are creating a better future for everyone who lives on and visits our beautiful island.”

As detailed in the executed memorandum of understanding, Sint Maarten will work with GridMarket to identify, design, procure, and install distributed energy assets and make corresponding infrastructure upgrades. The scalable partnership model was created to help the island rapidly reach its key energy goals by deploying an optimized mix of energy solutions for the lowest economic cost. The inaugural public-private partnership with the Independent State of Samoa originated at the SAMOA Pathway Inter-Regional Summit in 2018 and has been featured at EarthX, the world’s largest environmental forum, in Dallas, TX. It has since expanded to support energy transformations for other islands and coastal communities around the world.

“We are honored that Sint Maarten has joined the Island Resilience Partnership, a demonstration of its climate leadership and commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Matt Tranchin, Executive Director of the IRP. “In order to accelerate and optimize the global transition to renewable and resilient infrastructure, we must provide governments with risk-free, scalable solutions. But political will is a prerequisite for transformative change. That’s why the IRP is proud to partner with Prime Minister Jacobs and the Council of Ministers who are committed to achieving climate goals, while reducing the cost of energy for the citizens of Sint Maarten.”

GridMarket will facilitate and procure a turnkey solution that will provide the national utility, NV GEBE, with a comprehensive grid optimization plan and country-wide transition to renewable, resilient, and distributed energy. Last week, focal points from GridMarket, IRP, GEBE, VROMI, TEATT, and the Ministry of General Affairs convened the first stakeholder meeting which is aggregating data and key information from the utility and government, while outlining goals and metrics to ensure success for the people of Sint Maarten. The transformation will align with the Build-Back-Better principle, allowing Sint Maarten to be resilient in the face of future natural disasters and accelerate its long-term climate mitigation and adaptation goals. All phases of this initiative, including final project bidding and vendor selection, will flow through the GridMarket platform.

“GridMarket is honored to be entering into this formal partnership with Sint Maarten as their chosen strategic energy partner,” said Peter Schneider, Director of Sales and Project Management at GridMarket. “By using sophisticated digital analysis, artificial intelligence, and a granular building-by-building approach, we are able to create energy transformation plans that open up capital markets to leverage economies of scale and give our partners the greatest value from their unique opportunity. We are excited to apply our proven methodology in Sint Maarten as we coordinate the government’s procurement process and work with leading independent power producers and financial institutions to bring resilient, low-cost energy to the island.”

The model being used in Sint Maarten has been proven in other island nations, across commercial property portfolios, and for targeted, discrete regions around the world. Together with Sint Maarten government officials and the local utility, GridMarket’s innovative assessment tool will identify the optimal mix of technologies from the broader market to meet Sint Maarten’s unique needs. The platform is technology and vendor agnostic, making it a trusted tool for running the government’s procurement process and navigating energy decisions to secure the most valuable, cost-effective options. Most island nations have received and reviewed individual renewable energy proposals, but the GridMarket difference lies in the holistic approach, next-generation digital capabilities, and collective dedication to success. As shown in Samoa, relationships transcend traditional business, as all partners are committed to climate action, resiliency, and energy independence.

“When the Independent State of Samoa formed its partnership with GridMarket and the Island Resilience Partnership, it was a demonstration of our faith in the process because not only were we committed to achieving our national energy goals, but developing a ‘genuine, durable partnership’ based on mutual trust, shared responsibility and accountability,” said High Commissioner Feturi Elisaia. “We knew this partnership could be a model for other island governments around the world to adapt and emulate, which was always our unspoken wish. It is humbling to see our proven partnership in the Pacific being warmly welcomed in its new home in the Caribbean. I congratulate the government of Sint Maarten for its climate leadership and our innovative partners for building upon Samoa’s success.”

Sint Maarten’s official partnership was announced at the SC1.5NCE NOT SILENCE Forum on Friday, July 16th. The forum was organized by the Island Resilience Partnership as an official side event of the United Nations High Level Political Forum.

To join the Island Resilience Partnership, please click here. To learn more about GridMarket’s work with island nations, please click here.

—
Jillian Caramanna-Seymour
GridMarket
[email protected]

Matt Tranchin
Island Resilience Partnership
[email protected]

GridMarket is an energy project optimization platform and global marketplace leveraging big data and artificial intelligence to accelerate the global energy transition. Working with governments, utilities, and energy consumers around the world, GridMarket identifies and tailors best-fit energy projects, engages top-tier global solution providers, and mobilizes financial markets to help partners meet energy and carbon targets. GridMarket has a substantial global pipeline and portfolio of successful projects, spanning diverse customer types and geographic regions. Together with key partner and investor Marubeni America, GridMarket uses it’s platform to open up new markets and facilitate distributed energy deployment through automation, predictive analytics, remote digital capabilities, and dynamic stakeholder engagement tools.

The Island Resilience Partnership (IRP) is a public-private partnership that supports countries and communities on the front lines of the climate crisis by accelerating their transition to renewable energy and resilient infrastructure – at no-cost to governments. The IRP leverages philanthropic capital to provide risk-free, scalable solutions for climate mitigation and climate adaptation goals. In partnership with March For Science, the world’s largest grassroots network of science advocates, IRP highlights successful climate initiatives during its Island Resilience Forums – high-level events with world leaders that are live-streamed to more than one million science advocates across the globe.

Sint Maarten is a country in the southern Caribbean. The country has a population of 39,700 and a total area of 34 sq. km. Sint Maarten, a Dutch territory, occupies half of the island and Saint Martin, a French Territory, occupies the other half. Sint Maarten has 97.3 MW total installed capacity and a peak demand of 50 MW. Government-owned NV GEBE produces and distributes power for the island. Sint Maarten is almost entirely dependent on imported oil, but the country’s commitment to an energy transition is evident in its established clean generation goals and policy shifts under development.