Virgin Islands Lose Oil Refinery: Opportunity for Green Energy

Hovensa, the U.S. Virgin Islands’ sole oil refinery, was forced to shut down last month due to economic losses, leaving over 2,000 people unemployed. This energy fiasco is devastating the islands’ economy, and showing the vulnerability caused by oil dependency. The once-prominent oil refinery closed February 21, keeping about 100 employees to run the facility as an oil storage terminal. The refinery produced over 90 percent of the petroleum energy for the U.S. Virgin Islands, and accounted for 20 percent of the territory’s GDP. Representatives of Hovensa say losses have totaled over $1.3 billion in the last three years. This, along with decline in demand for refined products, makes it economically unfeasible to keep Hovensa operating. And that just might mean increasing energy efficiency and green energy. USVI Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. and the National Research Energy Laboratory (NREL) set out to reduce fossil fuel use on the islands by 60 percent by 2025 (USVI Renewable Energy Roadmap report offers graphs and statistics). The recipe includes biomass (2%), landfill gas (3%), solar (3%), and waste-to-energy (8%). The majority of this reduction will be accomplished by energy efficiency