Humphrey Gouverneur

1950–
Director of Production, Aqualectra (KAE)

Founder of the Caribbean Desalination Association, member of the Gouverneur desal dynasty, and one of Jim Stewart's foremost protégés.

Humphrey Gouverneur – Humphrey Gouverneur
Humphrey Gouverneur – Humphrey Gouverneur

Humphrey's first desalination experience was an internship in 1974. In 1978, he joined Curaçao power and water utility KAE, later Aqualectra, where he remained until 2010, becoming Director of Production. His early work under Jim Stewart included trialling BelgardHV, a high-temperature descalant which ended the need to clean MSF plants offline frequently. Later, Humphrey developed a combined desal and power unit by running a low-pressure turbine from a low temperature MED evaporator, believed to have been used only by Aqualectra.

Humphrey was a founder and first president of the Caribbean Desalination Association. Since 2010, he has run his own company, Water and Power Engineering.

IDA director 2008-2010, Humphrey mentions having worked with, at different times, Jim Stewart, Jim Reside, Abraham Ophir and Gilbert Gouverneur.

Landmark plant:

  • Curaçao, 1988 – first combined MED/turbine power plant with 3.1MW generating capacity