Virtual Island Summit 2025
In September 2025, CEC sponsored the “Clean Energy Innovation and Community-Led Transitions on Islands” session.
The session was moderated by Melanie Chen and there was an impressive, seasoned panel of speakers:
- HE Minister Miriam Dalli, Minister for Environment & Energy, Government of Malta
- Tom Wills, Co-founder and Director of Equitable Energy Research CIC
- Kalim Shah, Director of the Island Policy Lat & Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware
- Christian Galletta, Project Officer, Fedarene
- KakemboGalabuzi Brian, Sustainability Director & Co-Owner, St Kizito Schools, Namugongo
The key message was that community engagement is a core part of any project and needs to be a priority from the start. Early community engagement can be the key catalyst to the success of renewable energy projects.
Eugene Tiah also participated in the session “Charting a Pathway to a Geothermal Future”. The session discussed that there is a wide range of technical barriers to implementing geothermal energy and islands provide a new layer of unique challenges and solutions.
The session was moderated by Ernie Stapleton, GEOBUILD Project Manager, OECS and the panel of speakers included:
- Raphael Swerdlow, Senior Business Development Manager, Ormat Technologies
- Philip Julien, Founder & Chairman, Kenesjay Green Team
- Maria da Graca Rangel, Head of Geothermal Resources, EDA Renovaveis
- Eugene Tiah, CEO, Caribbean Energy Chamber
- Raul Hidalgo, Gran GanariaGeotermia Technical Advisor
CEC thanks both VIS and our speakers and panelists for their collaboration. Please find attached the link below for the presentation used by Eugene Tiah in his Geothermal Session.
