PROPOSED TRANS-CARIBBEAN HYDROTHERMAL POWER AND UNDERSEA HIGH VOLTAGE POWER TRANSMISSION CABLE NETWORK

The dream of energy independence for the Northern Caribbean nations of Jamaica, Cayman, Cuba, Haiti, Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic have gotten a huge boost with the discovery in 2010 of several super-heated undersea hydrothermal vents in the Mid-Cayman Trough between Jamaica and Cayman Island. For Jamaica this find is significant; having perhaps the highest energy cost in the world and struggling with a huge national debt, this is a dream come through.

However, Jamaica's economic and energy needs are no different from her Caribbean neighbors and with a combined population of some thirty-four (34) million people, million could be lifted out of poverty in less than fifteen (15) years to attain developed nation status by 2030. The strategic importance of the hot vents and the potential to harness some fifty-two (52) gigawatts of energy will significantly boost the economic standing of the entire Caribbean Region.

To this extent, Jamaica and her neighbors must invest approximately US$131 billion in their energy infrastructure over the next fifteen years or US$9.0 billion annually, according to the table (No.1). Jamaica alone must invest annually some US$700,000,000.

Based on forecast electricity consumption by 2031 comparable to Germany's current energy consumption used as a benchmark, the demand for Northern Caribbean countries excluding Puerto Rico is estimated at thirty gigawatt (30 GW).

The hydrothermal energy find will boost Jamaica's economic standing and strategic position in the region a position it had lost some three decades ago and is now tittering on the brink of bankruptcy under it's IMF loan obligations. More importantly, the location of the undersea hot vents falls within its "sovereign territory" as defined by rights associated with international laws relating to Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that maritime zone "beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea that extends seaward up to 200 nm from its baselines (or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal State). Within its EEZ, a coastal State has: (a) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living or nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds; (b) jurisdiction as provided for in international law with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and (c) other rights and duties provided for under international law."-NOAA

It is believed also that the vents are located on the same tectonic plate as Jamaica giving more rights to the economic benefits from this area. The economic impact in the region will be significant, especially for Jamaicans who could see the feasibility of paying US$0.05/kWh (instead of the US$0.35/kWh they are currently paying) for electricity generated from a floating power plant hovering above the hydrothermal vents some 3 miles below in some places on the seabed.

The Proposed Trans-Caribbean Hydrothermal Power Plant and Undersea Transmission Cables is estimated to cost some US$140 billion with a capital investment structure of some US$34 billion in private equity over an investment cycle of twenty (20) years with a Net Present Value (NPV) of US$4.4 billion and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 24% from revenue generated on a base electricity cost of US$0.05/kWh.

The construction cycle would last five (5) years and employ an estimate of some 450,000 workers during that time contributing well over US$190 billion in regional GDP and would employ some 6,000 full-time workers during operation.

The fifty-two (52) gigawatt of clean renewable energy will offset some 228 million tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2); having Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction equivalency; 38 million passenger vehicles and 23.4 billion gallons of gasoline and could contribute an additional twenty (20) gigawatt of energy to the North American Grid.

Asserting Rights Beyond Borders: Jamaica's Path to Energy Independence and Economic Development

• Published on August 2, 2015 

Silbert S. Barrett

Sustainable Strategist for Funding Major Infrastructure at Brittenwoods International

According to one prominent researcher and scientist on Oceanography; "You massaged the facts in your article about the world deepest hydrothermal vent - it is in Cayman's EEZ not Jamaica's. I saw the applications to the Cayman Government from the University of Southampton and other groups including Woodes Hole in the USA who dove on those sites. Not Jamaica's but Cayman's EEZ. I would appreciate it if you corrected the error."

For those stakeholders who have gone ahead in recognizing Cayman's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) rights, without consulting and getting joint agreements from both the Cayman and Jamaican governments, you are not abiding by International Laws relating to EEZ and Continental Shelf Delimitation.

I am not a lawyer, but in reality, I had not done anything wrong as according to Libya vs Tunisia and Canada vs the USA; recent cases in international law where political boundaries and geography are not the only consideration in determining disputes regarding sea-bed resources.

Emerging as principles and rules of law within the doctrine of Continental Shelf is the notion of equity and distributive justice "Equitable Principles of Maritime Boundary Delimitation through distributive justice" is the underlying arguments in recent international law cases on which Jamaica has a vested interest in asserting for its energy independence and economic development.

Base on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),  that maritime zone "beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea that extends seaward up to 200 nm from its baselines (or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal State). Within its EEZ, a coastal State has: (a) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living or nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents, and winds; (b) jurisdiction as provided for in international law with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and (c) other rights and duties provided for under international law.

Jamaica can then asserts its rights and interest in the Cayman Trough both on the premise of the EEZ and well as the doctrine of Continental Shelf for indeed the Mid-Cayman Spread lines within the Caribbean Plate which is a geological extension of the island of Jamaica, unlike the island of Cayman which is on the North American Plate. What is at stake is the economic development of the Caribbean Region and the rescue of the Jamaican economy.

Jamaica Literally Sits on One of The Largest Thermal Energy Source In World (>52 GW)

• Published on August 2, 2015 

Silbert S. Barrett

Sustainable Strategist for Funding Major Infrastructure at Brittenwoods International

In 2010, scientists have found the deepest known hydro-thermal vents, some 5 kilometers down beneath the waves of the Caribbean in the Cayman Trough.“In a nutshell, the Mid-Cayman Rise displays perhaps the broadest range of mid-ocean ridge geologic processes all active in the same place,” said German. “It makes a perfect natural laboratory in which to study all kinds of aspects of hydro-thermal flow.-Oceanus Magazine

Less than one hundred and ninety (190) miles and within its territorial waters define as its Exclusive Economic Zone, west of Negril Point between Jamaica and Cayman Island lies the largest spread of super-heated hot water vents in the world, capable of producing well over fifty two (52 GW) Gigawatts or some 52,000 Mega Watt of energy. The technology to develop and harness this vast source of clean renewable energy is available in the form of re-purposing deep ocean oil rig platform. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Exclusive Economic Zone is defined as that area of the ocean "beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea that extends seaward up to 200 nm from its baselines (or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal State). Within its EEZ, a coastal State has: (a) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living or nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds; (b) jurisdiction as provided for in international law with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and (c) other rights and duties provided for under international law."

The Cayman Trough is the world's deepest undersea volcanic rift, found on the seabed between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. At its lowest point, the pressure is equivalent to the weight of a large family car pressing down on every square inch.

Three miles (five kilometers) below the surface of the Caribbean Sea (map), great volcanic chimneys gush subterranean water hot enough to melt lead.

The Mid-Cayman Rise is part of Earth’s mid-ocean ridge mountain chain, where volcanic eruptions create new oceanic crust that pushes tectonic plates apart. But here, seafloor spreading can also happen without eruptions: As tectonic forces pull neighboring plates apart, rocks deep within Earth’s crust and mantle can slide upward, becoming exposed at the existing seafloor.

“The two plates are simply spreading apart along faults that permit one plate to slide out from under the other,” said German. Scientists theorize that along some slow-spreading ridges, this kind of process creates unusually thin seafloor. That allows water to percolate down to rocks heated by volcanism below. The water picks up chemical from the rocks and re-circulate and vent at the seafloor.

The extreme depths and different mineral composition of the seafloor along the Mid- Cayman Rise have produced many different kinds of vents within a relatively short span of seafloor. Researchers on this cruise concentrated their efforts at two sites, one of which, the Piccard vent field, is the deepest known hydro-thermal site, at nearly 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) deep. The fluids gushing from some of the vents at this site were found to be just above 400°C (750°F), among the hottest vents known.