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Latin America & Caribbean / Island & remote community

Necker Island Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts13
Sources reviewed7
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Necker Island's private-island microgrid was built in at least two documented stages, rather than as the archived 700 kW-solar/300 kW-wind configuration. Modeselekt reports a 2015 first phase with 350 kW of solar PV, 900 kW of diesel generation, desalination and integrated controls, followed by a 2019 phase that added 900 kW of wind, 1.2 MWh of battery storage, a second desalination plant and controllable thermal/water loads. An earlier 2014 NRG/Virgin agreement and 2015-2019 planning documents describe changing targets, not the final as-built equipment list.

Research status
Operational according to the latest project-integrator account located. Modeselekt says the combined system remains in operation, can run on 100% renewable energy on many days, and has reduced annual diesel use by an average of 90%. Those are supplier-reported results without a disclosed baseline, audit, annual MWh series or fuel-volume dataset. The first phase also survived Hurricane Irma in 2017 with its controls/data intact and resumed operation when personnel could safely restart generation and desalination. No independent 2024-2026 availability, battery-health or turbine-performance report was found.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
18.52677, -64.35863
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Necker Island Microgrid?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Carbon War Room / Rocky Mountain Institute

Included Necker in the Ten Island Challenge and documented an early-phase snapshot and planned additions; its older figures are useful for chronology but are not final as-built ratings. [5]

Organization

Modeselekt

Designed and implemented the phase-one and phase-two integration, communications and control systems and published the principal as-built/current project accounts. [2][3]

Organization

NRG

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

NRG Energy

Signed a 2014 agreement with Virgin Limited Edition to develop an integrated renewable system. The announcement describes an approval-dependent development scope; reviewed sources do not establish which later as-built assets, if any, NRG supplied. [4]

Organization

Virgin

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Virgin Limited Edition / Necker Island

Island owner/client and operator of the resort and its utility loads. [4][2][3]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
700 [1]
KW Wind
300 [1]
Phase 1, commissioned 2015
350 kW solar PV, 900 kW diesel generation, an integrated desalination plant and island control/communications infrastructure [2]
Phase 2, commissioned 2019
900 kW combined wind capacity, 1.2 MWh battery storage, a second desalination plant described as a 'water battery,' and controllable pool-heat-pump/thermal loads [3]
Historical planning figures versus as-built record
RMI's earlier snapshot listed roughly 300 kW solar installed and planned 900 kW wind plus 500 kWh storage; the 2019 BVI R-NETS report repeated 300 kW/900 kW/500 kWh planning values. The archived database instead listed 700 kW solar and 300 kW wind. None matches Modeselekt's later phase-by-phase as-built account, so the archived capacities should be replaced rather than added to it. [5][6][7][2][3]
Reported operating outcome
Supplier-reported average annual diesel reduction of 90%, with 100% renewable operation on many days; no audited annual renewable fraction or fuel baseline was published [3]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Generation and storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Solar PV, diesel generators, wind turbines and battery storage form the electrical supply. Reviewed public sources do not identify PV module/inverter models, diesel-generator models, turbine manufacturer/models, battery power rating, chemistry, manufacturer or usable energy. [2][3]

02

Flexible water and thermal loads

Model not publicly disclosed

Two desalination plants and pool heat pumps are dispatchable loads. Phase two treats stored fresh water as a 'water battery,' shifting desalination to periods of abundant renewable production. [3]

03

Controls and communications

Modeselekt

A staged island control and network architecture integrates generation, storage and controllable loads. The public case studies do not name controller hardware or publish dispatch logic, telemetry intervals or cybersecurity details. [2][3]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • 2014 development scope

    NRG's agreement targeted at least 75% renewable energy and described solar, wind, storage, diesel backup, efficiency and automated controls, subject to British Virgin Islands approval. It should be treated as a development announcement, not evidence that its unspecified design was commissioned. [4]

  • Hurricane Irma experience

    Modeselekt reports that Irma severed external communications in 2017 but the internal microgrid network continued collecting data and functioning; generation, desalination and solar were restarted when the island was safe to access. The account does not provide outage hours, damaged-equipment inventory or an independent resilience audit. [2]

  • Early solar result

    RMI's older case study attributed a 15-20% diesel reduction to the initial roughly 300 kW solar installation and projected a future 75% renewable system. That historical result predates the larger wind/storage phase and is not a current-system performance figure. [5]

  • Open evidence gaps

    No public annual generation by source, peak/average load, fuel litres, curtailment, storage state of health, component availability, operating-cost savings or verified renewable fraction through July 2026 was located. [3][5]

Provenance

7 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    Necker Island Phase 1

    Modeselekt · Primary source

  3. [3]
    Necker Island Microgrid Phase 2

    Modeselekt · Primary source

  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Renewable Microgrids: Profiles from Islands and Remote Communities Across the Globe

    Rocky Mountain Institute / Carbon War Room · Primary source

  6. [6]
    British Virgin Islands Renewable Energy National Targets, Strategies and Action Plan

    Government of the Virgin Islands / BVI Electricity Corporation · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Archived Necker Island Microgrid record

    MicrogridProjects.com via Internet Archive · Archived source

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