Located in the eastern Caribbean, the island state of Grenada consists of three main islands, Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique, as well as a number of smaller islands. Together the islands cover 344 km2, and has a population of 112,000 in 2018. More than 90 percent of the population lives on Grenada, and about one-third resides in the national capital of St. George. The official language is English.
The country’s economy is relatively diversified but leaning toward the services sector primarily government services, education, banking and insurance, tourism, and communications, Prior to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, nutmeg was Grenada’s largest single exported agricultural commodity.
The energy sector in Grenada is characterized by a high dependence on fossil fuels which is typical of the region. Diesel-based generation remains the dominant generation method, despite recent small-scale efforts to begin the diversification process.
While Grenada has no proven fossil fuel resources, it possesses substantial renewable energy potential. Its geothermal prospects are excellent, and its location in the tropics ensures widespread availability of wind and solar resources as well as municipal waste-to-energy. Grenada benefits from a high number of sunny days. It has a radiation on a horizontal surface around of 5.81 kilowatt hours per square metre. Solar water heating is already in use for providing hot water to private residences, hotels and other commercial buildings, but its use falls far short of the widespread penetration achieved in nearby Barbados, for example.
Grenada has the highest penetration rate of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the Eastern Caribbean. This is mostly due to the work of Grenada Solar Power Ltd (Grensol), a local company established in 2005 to provide photovoltaic systems to private customers.
Global Horizontal Irradiation Map:
Direct Normal Irradiation Map: