Dominica Hoping to Maintain Schedule of Commissioning Power Plant By Month End
ROSEAU, Dominica – The Dominica government says it will commission its 10-megawatt geothermal power plant on July 31 as the country continues with efforts to transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy sector.
Dominica’s geothermal project in the Roseau ValleyEnergy Minister Dr. Vince Henderson, speaking on the state-owned DBS Radio, said he had received a report earlier this week indicating that there had been a successful evaluation of all relevant parameters to allow for the project to be commissioned at month end.
He said as a result, “we are getting ready to sign off on that so that we can say within the next few days that commissioning is over so that the plant will now be commissioned and we can start operating under the terms and conditions of the power purchase agreement with DOMLEC (Dominica Electricity Services Limited).
“So we’re nearing that, our target has moved a few times admittedly, but the last time we reset we gave ourselves July 31st and it seems that we are going to be able to achieve that July 31st date,” Henderson told radio listeners, adding “this is exciting news for us because we feel a higher degree of confidence because as I said we’ve had a lot of back and forth and I think for us, it’s not only for us I should say, when I say us what I mean all of us in Dominica”.
The World Bank has provided loan and grant funding for Dominica’s geothermal development through projects including the Dominica Geothermal Risk Mitigation Project.
Initial funding included an International Development Association (IDA) credit of US$17.2 million, but other funding sources, like grants from the United Kingdom and the Clean Technology Fund, have also been crucial to the overall US$51.45 million financing package. These funds are supporting the development of geothermal power plants, strengthening the grid and assessing export potential.
The Dominica government has said that the geothermal development project is expected to play a central role in the country’s vision of becoming the first climate-resilient nation powered by sustainable energy.
Henderson said that while the entire exercise has been a “learning experience for Dominica” he is also pleased young Dominicans have been given an opportunity to be involved in the project.
“Our geothermal plants, there are 28 employees, 26 of them are Dominicans. I’m talking about for the operations of the plant, I’m talking about the hundreds of Dominicans who are working during the construction, but currently we have young graduates from the Sate College, we have technicians, engineers who worked with DOMLEC for several years, but especially younger people who are now employed at the geothermal plant and they’re the ones who operate in the plant.”
He said some of the young people had been sent for training in Guatemala “where they actually went to see the servicing of a plant and to get a better knowledge of how these things work.
“And I remember a few weeks ago, there was a team from DOMLEC that went to Brazil with KPI, the Indian company, to understand how they operate the transmission network so that they can have more experience on this thing. So it’s been a learning process for us, a lot of learning.”
Henderson said Dominicans should be proud of the geothermal energy initiative, adding “this is one achievement for Dominica that we can be proud of, every one of us, because we have, I mean, admittedly, we have not been first in a lot of things, but we can say this is something that we’ve done well, not just being first in it, but we’ve done well and we can lead the way, we can teach, we can share, we can speak of our experiences and it’s catching people’s attention”.
He said Dominica has been getting several requests including attendance at meetings in Dominican Republic and Panama City.
“…there are people, they want to hear, but how were you able to do that? It’s a Dominican experience and I’m saying this because I want us to embrace this as our project,” Henderson added.
