WILLEMSTAD – Eco Capital Curaçao (EC2) is proposing that the government establish a temporary, project-specific taskforce to coordinate preparations for a Virtual Power Network that would digitally connect solar panels, battery storage and other distributed energy resources across Curaçao.
The proposal has been submitted to the Curaçao Parliament’s Economic Development Committee. EC2 stressed that it is not asking Parliament to award the company a concession or approve financing. Its application for an electricity production concession remains subject to the procedures of the competent authorities.
According to EC2, the technical, legal, financial and organizational aspects of the proposed network currently involve several institutions, including the Ministry of Economic Development, regulator RAC, Aqualectra, the Ministry of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning (VVRP) and the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The proposed taskforce would coordinate those separate processes without taking over the statutory responsibilities of the institutions involved.
A Virtual Power Network would digitally connect multiple small electricity installations, allowing solar generation, battery storage and other resources at different locations to be coordinated as a larger system. Such a network could eventually help balance electricity supply and demand.
EC2 says similar functions are already being discussed as part of Curaçao’s ongoing Integrated Resource Plan. During discussions involving RAC, the possibility of a Balancing Service Provider was raised. Such a provider could aggregate smaller installations, monitor production and consumption and assume responsibility toward Aqualectra for agreed performance.
EC2 emphasized that these discussions do not mean the company has been authorized to perform that role.
The company proposes using an initial phase to develop rules covering self-consumption, rooftop installations, collective electricity production, data exchange and grid connections. A pilot project could then test both the technology and cooperation between the institutions involved.
EC2 has identified the M.M. Romer School as one possible test location. The company began measuring electricity consumption there in 2024 to study a combination of solar panels, battery storage and air conditioning. EC2 stressed that the government’s subsequent solar-energy program for schools did not originate from this project.
The company is also proposing an examination of whether Dutch, Kingdom or other public financing programs could temporarily provide a financial bridge for an initial portfolio of renewable-energy projects.
Under the proposal, public funding would not serve as a permanent subsidy to EC2. Instead, the money could be placed in a separate financing structure and later repaid or reused once private investment enters the projects.
EC2 points to financing models in the Netherlands in which public money is used to help mobilize private capital. The company stressed that it is not currently claiming entitlement to any such funding and that separate decisions and approvals would be required.
The longer-term objective would be to attract private and institutional investors into individual energy projects. Any proposed financial structures would first have to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, including those of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
EC2 says it has been developing the virtual power network concept since 2023. An earlier attempt to establish a joint Energy Task Force did not result in a formal coordination structure.
The company argues that the number of institutions involved in Curaçao’s energy transition makes a clearly defined coordination mechanism necessary if technical development, regulation, financing and grid integration are to proceed together.