WILLEMSTAD – Eco Capital Curaçao is asking the government to establish a temporary taskforce to determine how thousands of privately owned solar panels and batteries could eventually operate together as part of Curaçao’s electricity system.
The company submitted the proposal to the Curaçao Parliament, stressing that it is not asking lawmakers to approve Eco Capital’s own energy project. Instead, it wants Parliament to encourage the government to establish an “Executive Virtual Power Network Taskforce” involving government agencies, energy companies, regulators, financial institutions and other stakeholders.
The proposed taskforce would have between 90 and 120 days to develop an implementation framework.
That framework would have to address investment costs, technical requirements, responsibilities, risks and criteria for deciding whether Curaçao should proceed with a pilot project.
The central concept is a Virtual Power Network in which large numbers of individual solar installations and battery systems at homes and businesses can be digitally coordinated and effectively operated as a single controllable energy resource.
Eco Capital previously proposed combining nearly 7,000 homes equipped with solar panels, batteries and digital controls into such a system.
The company is concerned that Aqualectra’s Integrated Resource Plan provides substantial room for rooftop solar installations intended primarily for individual consumption but does not establish a clear pathway for thousands of private installations to participate collectively as a commercial electricity producer.
Eco Capital proposes a broad membership for the taskforce. Aqualectra and regulator RAC would participate alongside the ministries of Economic Development and Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning (VVRP), Curoil, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, banks, pension funds, insurers and renewable-energy technology suppliers.
Installers, educational institutions, households and businesses should also have representation, according to the proposal.
Among the issues requiring examination is how thousands of separate batteries and solar installations could safely communicate and operate together.
This includes data exchange, grid security and cybersecurity, as well as determining whether Aqualectra could access electricity stored in participating batteries when additional power is needed to support the grid.
The taskforce would also examine financing models and the consumer protections required before households could participate.
Eco Capital says the concept predates the current debate surrounding Aqualectra’s Integrated Resource Plan. The company submitted a proposal titled “Curaçao Readiness for a Virtual Power Network” to the government in September 2023.
VVRP responded in February 2024 following technical discussions with then-regulator BT&P. According to the documents, further development was requested, including clearer boundaries for the project and a more precise division of responsibilities among the parties involved.
Eco Capital believes a temporary taskforce could now complete that work and provide policymakers with sufficient information to determine whether a Virtual Power Network is technically, financially and legally viable for Curaçao.