Dominica: New geothermal plant unveils new developments

Dominica: The government of the Commonwealth of Dominica has been decreasing their dependency on the fossil fuels have been putting efforts to build a climate resilient nation. The government has, now, unveiled the new developments on its geo-thermal power plant project.

The Dominican government signed a deal of worth USD 12.5 million with an Iceland-based company to drill two wells, in February. Then, Climate Resilience minister stated, “The government of Dominica has signed a contract with the Iceland Drilling Company, they will visit Dominica in mid-2022 to drill two new wells.”

These well would majorly contribute at the geothermal power plant. As in such plant, well are drilled one or two miles deep into the Earth to pump steam/ hot water, at the place where surface of Earth is hot. As per the experts, Dominica is the perfect location for establishment of the geothermal plants.

For financial support, the government has tied up with some organisations, including, the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, Small Island Developing States, SIDS Dock and the Clinton Foundation. The project has been also backed by the Citizenship by Investment Programme of the Caribbean country.

According to the climate resilience minister, the power plant will have a positive as well as substantial impact on the island and it will help in bringing advancement. “With the commissioning of this plant, we will be in a position to benefit from clean, reliable, low-cost, renewable, high-quality energy supply in the future, which will benefit all sectors of productive activity in Dominica,” he stated.

Expectedly, the geothermal plant will make the electricity rates in Dominica much lesser, as compare to the present rates and nation’s share of renewable energy will be increased by more than 25 percent (25 percent to 51 percent). The government has optimized that the greenhouse emission would be reduced by around 38,223 tons of CO2 per year.

The government has also planned that this energy power plant will grant power to around 23,000 houses, which is approximately 90 percent of entire population.