The Government of Antigua and Barbuda and Octopus Energy have announced a partnership to explore how solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles and smart technology could reduce electricity costs and the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

The agreement was announced at the Global Citizen NOW: Impact Session during New York Climate Week. The partners will examine ways to make the national electricity grid more resilient while increasing the use of locally generated renewable energy.

One option under consideration is a virtual power plant: a network that connects devices such as rooftop solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles so they can work together to support the grid. Octopus Energy says it already manages a virtual power plant network linking nearly 500,000 devices, with a combined capacity equivalent to approximately three nuclear power stations.

The partnership is intended to support Antigua and Barbuda’s goals of generating 86 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources and ensuring all new cars sold are electric by 2030. Those are ambitions the country is working towards, rather than outcomes secured by the new agreement.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the shift to renewable energy is an economic necessity for small island states facing volatile fuel costs and the effects of climate change.

“Our continued dependence on imported fossil fuels exposes our people and businesses to high and volatile energy costs, while climate change poses an existential threat to our development,” Browne said.

He said the partnership offers an opportunity to test practical ways to combine renewable energy, electric mobility, storage and smart technology.

“The energy transition must ultimately improve the lives of our people. It must reduce our vulnerability, strengthen our energy independence and create a more competitive economy,” the Prime Minister said.

The first planned step is tied to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled for November 1–4 in St. John’s. Octopus Energy’s electric vehicle arm will assist with the provision of vehicles for the event.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said the partners hope to develop an implementable plan that responds to the energy challenges faced by small islands.

“Our goal is simple: people everywhere should benefit from the lower costs that renewables and smart tech offers,” she said.

Global Citizen, which helped bring the partners together, said it would continue working with them to turn the agreement into tangible results. Its co-founder Michael Sheldrick said Antigua and Barbuda could offer a model for other small island developing states if the initiative succeeds.

The announcement comes as Octopus Energy expands its renewable energy work internationally. Its generation arm has set an ambition to catalyse $450 million in clean energy investment in Africa through its Power Africa Initiative and is working with Idris Elba’s Elba Hope Foundation on a wind farm on Sierra Leone’s Sherbro Island.