WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao and the other Caribbean parts of the Kingdom should treat energy security as a national security issue and accelerate renewable energy development to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels, according to a new geopolitical study.
The researchers warn that fuel shortages can quickly spread through almost every essential part of an island economy.
A disruption in fuel supplies can affect electricity generation, aviation, shipping, food refrigeration, telecommunications, transportation and emergency response.
The report therefore describes fuel shortages as a “risk multiplier.”
It recommends a two-track strategy.
In the long term, Curaçao and the other islands should rapidly expand solar and wind energy while investing in electricity storage and grid infrastructure.
In the short term, governments should diversify suppliers of oil and liquefied natural gas while establishing strategic fuel reserves.
The researchers also identify a geopolitical dilemma.
Chinese manufacturers are major suppliers of renewable energy technologies and could potentially help the Dutch Caribbean accelerate its energy transition.
However, extensive reliance on Chinese technology could create another strategic dependency.
The report says governments must therefore determine whether decisions involving foreign suppliers in critical energy infrastructure are exclusively domestic matters for autonomous countries such as Curaçao or whether their possible security consequences require Kingdom-wide coordination.
The recommendation comes as Curaçao continues to debate the future of its refinery and its broader energy system.
According to the researchers, energy independence does not necessarily mean eliminating imported fuels immediately, but reducing the island's vulnerability to a single supplier, country or international crisis.