Volume No. 2 Issue No. 48 - Monday July 28, 2008
Government signs geothermal development agreement
Minister of energy Ambrose George signs agreement with Gregory Gannes of the West Indies Power Company.
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The cabinet of the Commonwealth of Dominica has agreed to grant West Indies Power (Dominica) Ltd. (WIPD) a geothermal exploration and development license to develop geothermal resources located in the southern part of the Caribbean island.
Geothermal exploration is set to begin shortly after the Government of Dominica and WIPD signed a Geothermal Resources Exploration and Development Agreement.
The exploration work has the objective of finding locations from which the geothermal resources can be drilled. Initial drilling is planned to begin the first quarter of 2009 and electricity production is planned for the last quarter of 2010.
The agreement grants WIPD the rights to explore for and develop the geothermal resources located in the south of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
At the agreement signing ceremony, representing the Government of Dominica were the Prime Minister, Honorable Roosevelt Skeritt; acting Minister of Agriculture, Honorable Ambrose George and attending on behalf of West Indies Power (Dominica) Ltd. were Gregory de Gannes, Chairman and Dmitrijus
Apokinas, CFO.
Prime Minister Skeritt addressed the ceremony stating that the development of geothermal power will bring benefits both to the economy and the people of Dominica and appealed to the people of the island to support the project.
Speaking at the ceremony, WIPD, CFO, Apokinas, highlighted a report by the World Bank in 2006, where geothermal power generation was ranked as the “number one energy independency option for the Caribbean, above all other renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, not even mentioning technologies which use fossil fuels. “
“It is time, ladies and gentleman, for Dominica to explore its natural resources and gain a competitive advantage in today’s global markets”, he concluded.
Geothermal energy is generated by heat stored beneath the earth's surface and therefore requires no purchase of fuel.
Efforts have been ongoing throughout the Caribbean to harness this energy source as one of the means of reducing increasing fuel costs.
At the end of May 2008, Geologist Herve Traineau and Geophysicist Nicholas Coppo of the French Geological Survey visited Dominica to undertake geological and geophysical analysis of Dominica’s geothermal potential.
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