The Caribbean Math: A Resort's EUR 338,000 Problem, Solved Line by Line

A Caribbean resort pays the highest energy prices in the western hemisphere. Electricity at EUR 0.25 to 0.35 per kWh, diesel shipped across the ocean, waste trucked to overflowing landfills. Add it up and a mid-size resort bleeds roughly EUR 338,000 a year on energy and waste. Two X-150 gasifiers eliminate it. EUR 2.3 million CAPEX. 13.8% IRR. 6.8 year payback. Here's the deal sheet.

Why the region is ripe

Caribbean islands run on imported oil. Tariffs run 3 to 4 times the US average. Air conditioning is 50 to 60% of resort energy demand. Waste disposal costs EUR 30 to 80 per tonne and landfill taxes are climbing toward European levels. Carbon is the third force: biochar credits trade at USD 100 to 200 per tonne, and EU CBAM starts phasing in 2026.

The deal sheet

CAPEX is EUR 2,323,000. Two X-150 units with freight are EUR 1,040,000. Two engine-generator sets at 75 kWe each are EUR 400,000. The 144 kW absorption chiller is EUR 90,000. Heat recovery for pools and laundry is EUR 80,000. The gas cleaning train is EUR 100,000. Civil works and installation are EUR 250,000. Grid interconnection is EUR 60,000. Project management plus 15% contingency is EUR 303,000.

Annual revenue is EUR 585,600. Displaced electricity self-consumed, 960 MWh at EUR 0.30 per kWh, is EUR 288,000. Displaced grid purchase, 240 MWh at EUR 0.25, is EUR 60,000. Absorption cooling, 144 kW over 6,000 hours at EUR 0.15, is EUR 129,600. Heat for pools, laundry, and hot water, 250 kWth over 4,000 hours at EUR 0.06, is EUR 60,000. Carbon credits, 960 tonnes at EUR 50, are EUR 48,000.

Annual OPEX is EUR 242,000. Feedstock, about 3,000 tonnes at EUR 32 per tonne, is EUR 96,000. Engine and gasifier maintenance for two units is EUR 60,000. Labor at 2 FTE is EUR 60,000. Ash disposal is EUR 8,000. Insurance and admin is EUR 18,000.

The result: net cash flow of EUR 343,600 a year, simple payback of 6.8 years, 13.8% IRR over 20 years, and EUR 602,000 NPV at 10% WACC. The resort eliminates EUR 585,600 of annual energy cost and replaces it with EUR 242,000 of operating cost. Net, EUR 343,600 stays in the business instead of leaving the island.

Reading it honestly

Electricity displacement is 60% of revenue. That's the core, and it works because island power is expensive. Cooling adds EUR 129,600 and is worth 3 points of IRR. Without the chiller, IRR drops to 9.5%.

Carbon is modeled at the floor, EUR 50 per tonne. EU ETS trades at EUR 60 to 90. At EUR 75, the carbon line becomes EUR 72,000 and IRR gains half a point.

The feedstock line is the named risk. Purchased chips at EUR 32 per tonne cost EUR 96,000 a year because island biomass is thin. A resort feeding its own green waste converts that cost into a disposal saving.

Why it beats solar

Solar in the region delivers 8 to 12% IRR. It doesn't run at night, doesn't displace diesel on demand, and doesn't eat the resort's waste. The X-150 runs 8,000 hours a year at 91% capacity factor. It also makes cooling, which solar can't without batteries and electric chillers. The enclosed genset runs at 55 dBa, quiet enough for a luxury property; a diesel genset runs at 75.

EUR 338,000 a year leaves the loading dock in a garbage truck and a fuel delivery. The machine that stops it fits in a shipping container.