ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC-The Dominica government says it remains confident that the 10-megawatt10-megawatt geothermal energy power plant will be commissioned by 2O26 after signing a contract worth almost US$40 million with an Indian company.
Energy Minister Dr. Vince Henderson said that while steady progress has been made on the geothermal energy development project, developments in the Middle East are likely to affect the project timeline.
(File Photo)
He said two weeks ago, the Dominica Geothermal Development Company signed a contract for US$38.9 million with the Indian-based company that will construct 10 kilometers of transmission lines with substations from Laudat, a small village in the center of the island, located between three mountains, to Fond Cole, on the outskirts of the capital.
“We are very excited about that milestone because it means that the company has started mobilizing, and very shortly, we will see actual action on the ground so that construction can begin within the next several weeks.
“This is an important milestone we have reached, and work is also ongoing for the construction of the power plant at Laudat, and a local company has been awarded the contract for the site preparation….,” Henderson said.
“We expect that by October of this year, most of the equipment will arrive on the island, and by early next year, we can see construction in earnest for the first 10-megawatt geothermal plant.
But Henderson said that while the project is scheduled, it is hoped to be completed by the end of 2025; there have been several challenges, “especially with the conflict in the Middle East, considering that most of our equipment comes out of Israel, and a lot of the personnel as well for that (Indian) company are based in Israel.
“So despite these challenges, we still are on target, on schedule, and we hope we can have the plant commissioned by early 2026, once construction is completed by December 2025,” Henderson added.
In April this year, Finance Minister Dr. Irving McIntyre defended the government’s decision to seek a loan of over EC$100 million (One EC dollar = 0.37 cents) for constructing the 10-megawatt geothermal energy plant, saying it is in keeping with its plans to accelerate the efforts to bring geothermal-generated electricity to the island’s grids by December 2025.was prepared to provide the loan for the project.
He said the current electricity and distribution network, owned by the Dominica Electricity Company Limited (DOMLEC), needs more capacity to transport the electricity generated by the geothermal plants. The new resilient network would transmit the electricity generated by the 10-megawatt power plant and can transmit the electricity from the three hydroelectric power plants in the neighboring Roseau Valley.
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