Dominica hoping to commission geothermal plant by 2026

The Dominica government says it remains confident that the 10-megawatt geothermal energy power plant will be commissioned by 2026, after signing a contract worth almost US$40 million with an Indian company to develop the facility.

Energy Minister Dr Vince Henderson said while there has been steady progress with the geothermal energy development project, developments in the Middle East are likely to affect the project timeline.

He said that two weeks ago, the Dominica Geothermal Development Company signed a contract for US$38.9 million with the India-based company that will be constructing 10 kilometres of transmission lines with sub-stations from Laudat, a small village in the centre of the island, located between three mountains, into Fond Cole on the outskirts of the capital.

“We are very excited about that milestone, because it means that the company has started mobilising 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.,” he added.

Henderson said that while the project is on schedule, there have been several challenges, “especially with the conflict in the Middle East, considering that most of our equipment come out of Israel.”.

“A lot of the personnel as well, for that (Indian) company, are based in Israel. So in spite of 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,” the energy minister said.

In April, Finance Minister Dr Irving McIntyre defended the government’s decision to seek a loan of over EC$100 million to finance construction of the 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.

He said the current electricity and distribution network, owned by the Dominica Electricity Company Limited, known as DOMLEC, needs more capacity to transport the electricity generated by the geothermal plants, and that the new resilient network would transmit the electricity generated by the 10MW power plant and can transmit the electricity from the three hydroelectric power plants in the neighbouring Roseau Valley.

– CMC