The three courses of the program will be held over a three year time period from 2013-1015 at the University of El Salvador.

“Each course will be taken by 30 geothermal experts. The operation will also finance 10 scholarships for Salvadoran participants and another 10 scholarships for participants from other countries. The project, which was approved by the IDB Board of Executive Directors, will provide the only theoretical and practical graduate-level training in geothermal energy available in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2010, Universidad de El Salvador, together with LaGeo and support from Italy, offered a specialized degree course on a pilot basis. The new program will include an evaluation of this pilot course.

A Sustainable Regional Training Plan in Geothermal Energy will be prepared to examine future demand for training as well as academic and financial aspects. The plan will define curriculum and teaching methods needed to ensure that participants receive the best training available in the region. Studies will also be conducted to determine the demand for masters or doctoral-level training in geothermal energy.

The region’s geothermal development potential is estimated at 6,000 MW. Of this, 43 percent is located in Central America, 39 percent in Mexico, 17 percent in the Andean region, and 1 percent in the Southern Cone. Two geothermal fields in El Salvador are currently being exploited, Ahuachapán and Berlíncon, with a combined installed capacity of 204 MW. This represents 14 percent of national installed capacity and 25 percent of net generation capacity, with production projected for an additional 25-30 years.
Of the program’s total cost of $2.9 million, approximately $1.4 million were provided by the Nordic Development Fund and $824,000 from the Fund for the Special Program on Sustainable Energy and Climate Change (SECCI-IDB). Counterpart financing for the program totals $770,000.”

Source: Power Engineering

“Funds will support phase one of an exploratory well drilling program over 12 months starting May 2012, including site preparation and access works, drilling, supervision and testing. A group currently drilling in Dominica will assess potential sites and make a decision on tendering for the project.”

The group active in Dominica includes Icelandic geothermal drilling company Iceland Drilling and Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR).

Source: Cospp.com

“The Latin America and the Caribbean region is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas footprint,” said Hans Schulz, head of the IDB’s Structured and Corporate Finance Department, which is responsible for financing large-scale projects in the private sector.

“Several countries are beginning to develop their potential for wind, geothermal, bio energy production and solar energy, often through private sector leadership,” Schulz said. “The IDB provides access to tailored long-term financing, not readily available in local capital markets for these types of projects.”

Last year, the IDB approved $736 million in financing for private sector environmentally-friendly projects, compared with the $663 million invested by the bank between 2000 and 2010.

The increase reflects both an increase in demand from the 26 governments the bank counts as its borrowing members and a strategic shift that calls for 25 percent of the bank’s lending portfolio to support climate change and environmentally-friendly initiatives, such as renewable energy.

As part of the meeting, the IDB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed a framework agreement that will provide up to $600 million in financing for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Central America and the Caribbean over the next five years.

At the meeting the IDB also agreed to join forces with the Asian Development Bank on strengthen trade and investments.

For the full article see link below.

Source: Environment News Service

The IFC, a subsidiary of the World Bank, has been working with the authorities here from the inception of the island’s geothermal project.

Under the just signed MOU, Dominica is expected to receive US$250,000 in the first instance. Energy Minister Rayburn Blackmoore has described the partnership with the IFC as critical to the development of the geothermal project, one that will help fashion “a road map to ultimately take this project to where it is ought to be.”

“If geothermal is to make sense to us in Dominica we must go beyond drilling of the test wells, and even beyond the actual establishment or installation of a small plant for our own local use,” the minister said.

He wants Dominica to “look at the commercial aspects as to where the country itself could derive economical benefit and we can add a new contributor to our gross national product”.

Source: Dominica News Online

Signed this week, the agreement will be a two-fold scheme. For joint co-financing, the IDB will be required to match financing provided by JICA. The Agency intends to provide US$300 million in concessional financing for projects, which would mean IDB would also have to offer US$300 million. The second option is parallel co-financing where each organization will separately finance specific components of an eligible project. All projects will be processed, approved and executed to meet with the IDB’s loan policies and procedures for joint co-financing.

The IDB has increased spending over the years due to an increase in demand from its borrowing members and to achieve its goal of 25% of total lending to represent climate change adaptation, environmental sustainability and renewable energy. According to the International Energy Agency, a 50% increase, by 2030, is expected in this region. This will require a global investment of up to US$1.5 trillion. Last year, the IDB had approved US$736 million in financing towards environmentally-friendly projects.

“For more than 30 years, Japan has been a great partner of the IDB and, in particular of our borrowing member countries,’’ said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “This agreement is another example of Japan’s efforts to help our region overcome key development challenges. This contribution, in addition to encouraging the adoption of climate-friendly energy investments, will support much needed mitigation measures to address the negative impacts of climate change among our most vulnerable nations in Central America and the Caribbean.”

Toshitaka Takeuchi, energy specialist and technical contact for the agreement at the IDB’s energy division said, “We are considering potential projects in the areas of hydroelectric power plant rehabilitation, photovoltaic power generation, and installation of energy saving facilities and equipment. In addition we will explore financing opportunities for geothermal power generation considering its significant potential in the region.”

“The Latin America and the Caribbean region is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas footprint,’’ said Hans Schulz, head of the IDB’s structured and corporate finance department, which is responsible for financing large scale projects in the private sector. “Several countries are beginning to develop their potential for wind, geothermal, bio energy production and solar energy, often through private sector leadership. The IDB provides access to tailored long-term financing, not readily available in local capital markets for these types of projects.”

Source: PV-Tech

Both companies have been involved in the first exploration drilling on the Caribbean island state of Dominica since early December 2011. (reported here).

“Considerable research of the geothermal potential of the island has already been conducted, and there are hopeful signs that it can be harnessed.

Dominica has about 70 thousand inhabitants, but a large part of the islanders’ electricity is produced with diesel generators and 20-30% comes from hydroelectric power.

The drilling of the first geothermal well was finished about two weeks ago with good results. The well seems to have fairly good permeability and to be quite hot. This is a positive sign that there is exploitable geothermal energy in Dominica, and this first well could possibly be used for electricity production. Discharge testing of the well, which remains to be performed, will provide more detailed information about the potential for exploitation.

The plan is to drill three wells and Iceland Drilling has already started drilling of the second well. With 10 employees involved in the project on site and in Iceland, Iceland GeoSurvey geologists, engineers, logging specialists and geochemists are responsible for borehole geology, logging, sampling, environmental monitoring and general consulting. Iceland GeoSurvey also provides a logging truck and various other tools and equipment at the drill site.

In addition to the government of Dominica, the project is financed by the French Development Agency (ADF) and the European Development Fund (EDF).”

Source: ISOR

Today I am asking you for your help in a short Reader Survey. It would be great if you could assist in filling out the survey.  Click here to take survey

I sincerely hope that you find the site and its features useful. From the beginning I have been using a variety of social media tools to help promote geothermal energy. Twitter has become an increasingly important tool. Facebook is something a bit underutilized. Google+ is coming. The ThinkGeoEnergy LinkedIn group with now also around 600 members is providing a great platform for discussions. The Ning community has not been that overly successful, but is still being used.

The free-to-use pictures I share via ThinkGeoEnergy’s Flickr account are also popular. If you want to share good geothermal pictures you can do this via the Flickr Group of ThinkGeoEnergy.

Then there are the other elements. In 2010, a weekly newsletter was added that today has over 600 subscribers and now even has a fine co-sponsor in Scientific Drilling. The Geothermal Job Portal was added last year and slowly gains some traction.

Also at the end of 2011, ThinkGeoEnergy was able to offer one of the first Geothermal apps for the iPhone – the GeoEnergy app, available in the App Store.

I am also very excited about the ThinkGeoEnergy Geothermal Power Plant Map, which is in full work. It is under development, so don´t expect it to be anywhere close to ready and correct, but for a preview see here: http://map.thinkgeoenergy.com/map.php, for the old map (on Google Maps) you can use this link.

I am now going through a bit of a strategic review of the site, for which the survey is supposed to be a little guidance of what you want to see for ThinkGeoEnergy going forward, so your help is appreciated.

There are some exciting news coming along for the industry, so the start into this year looks a lot better than indications of the end of last year. So lets hope we will see an exciting year.

I am also exploring the idea of a Marketing Workshop/ event in connection with the GRC Annual Meeting and the GEA Trade Show in Reno this fall, so stay tuned.

In this context I also would very much like to thank all the companies that have supported me through the years with advertisements and other contributions. Namely this is Islandsbanki, ISOR, GeothermEx, Hannon Armstrong, Verkís, Mannvit, Technip, Scientific Drilling, Iceland Drilling, Enerchange and Activated Logic.

There are a large number of other individuals and companies that have helped tremendously through advise, thoughts, critical remarks and comments and general support.

“An announcement from the Ministry of Communications and Works said the government was willing to entertain sound proposals from the private sector, which would provide a reliable source of energy for the island and equitable benefits for the people of Montserrat.

The government said it wishes to explore private sector interest in the confirmation and development of the potential geothermal resource on the Island. While surface exploration has been undertaken, no drilling has been carried out so, despite encouraging indications that a geothermal resource exists, this potential has yet to be proven.

The current electricity demand on the island, which has a peak of under 2MW, is met with diesel generation and, while a programme is underway to replace the existing ageing high speed units, the early displacement of the need for continued expensive diesel generation is of key interest.

The request for EOIs will seek an outline of interest for development from entities that are willing to finance and undertake the drilling phase to prove the existence of an exploitable resource. If a resource is proven then the executing entity would be provided the opportunity to install an appropriate generation facility to meet the island’s current and anticipated electricity demand.

The government said it is willing to entertain sound and reasonably structured proposals; such offers should be from groups with established geothermal experience; proposals should be attractive to the private sector whilst providing equitable benefits for Montserrat, delivering a reliable and realistically priced supply of electricity.

The ability for those expressing interest in this project to demonstrate that they have existing sources of finance to undertake the drilling phase of the development is of key importance.

If this request for EOI does not yield any offers that meet the above requirements, it is the government’s intention to seek public funding to proceed with the drilling phase of the project.”

Source: Caribbean News Now

The European Investment Bank, the European Union’s long-term lending institution, will provide a EUR 1.1 million (US$ 1.4 million) grant to enhance detailed planning and study the feasibility of exporting electricity generated by geothermal energy from Dominica to neighbouring islands Martinique and Guadeloupe. Electricity generation using geothermal energy uses water heated to a high temperature using geothermal resources available near the surface. The EIB’s support will evaluate a possible northern submarine interconnection from Dominica to Guadeloupe and a second link to Martinique in the south. Once the feasibility of cross-border interconnections is determined, subsequent studies will define the characteristics of the sub-sea cables and assess the environmental impact of the planned interconnection.

“Ensuring the most effective use of geothermal energy as a sustainable source of electricity generation offers immense potential for transforming energy use and economic growth in the Caribbean. The European Investment Bank is pleased to contribute to overcoming specific technical and engineering challenges essential to lowering the energy costs in Dominica and to significantly increase electricity generation from renewable energy sources in the East Caribbean.” said Plutarchos Sakellaris, European Investment Bank Vice President.

“The European Investment Bank is a highly recognised and trusted development partner and so having the EIB on board in our geothermal development initiative is very instrumental in giving our programme the exposure necessary to attract the best in the geothermal business – contractors, consultants, experts and, of course, investors. As the Minister responsible for Energy, I thank the EIB for their continued interest in advancing our development objectives and look forward to strengthening the cooperation.” said Hon Rayburn Blackmoore, Minister for Public Works, Energy and Ports, Dominica.

“The launch of this phase of the project underpins the EU’s goal of making renewable energy a priority to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, more particularly in terms of poverty alleviation and eradication.” said Valeriano Díaz, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

The European Investment Bank’s contribution will greatly assist a project that has the potential to develop a 20MW geothermal power generation plant for local use and a subsequent plant of up to 120 MW for export. Currently, the Government of Dominica, supported by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement, is drilling three test wells in Laudat and Wotten-Waven to determine the potential of geothermal resources in the Roseau Valley and plans to build a 5MW test plant. Results gained from the exploratory drillings will allow greater understanding of the size and quality of geothermal resources that could be used. This information, along with results of the feasibility studies of interconnections funded by the European Investment Bank, will determine the most effective approach.[The drilling is conducted by Icelandic drilling company Iceland Drilling with drilling and exploration services by ISOR]

The project is to provide clean and sustainable energy for Dominica and neighbouring islands by allowing them to generate their electricity needs away from a primarily fossil fuel base to a renewable energy resource, become a significant income generator for Dominica, decrease its considerable foreign exchange expense of imported diesel and substantially lower energy costs for the island’s population. If successful, this project could become a model for other small island development states around the world that have geothermal potential.

The European Investment Bank has supported projects in the Caribbean for more than 40 years and contributes to improving sustainable energy in small island states around the world, most recently in Cape Verde and Vanuatu.”

Source: EIB via Caribbean Press Releases 

The findings are interesting not only for the geothermal industry that sees its high capacity factors as one of the key selling arguments. While the research shows that geothermal energy is still a very favorable base-load capacity energy source for utilities world-wide, capacity factors are often not as high as they theoretically could be.

Building on the vast resources collected over the year, the research done by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for this study is quite thorough and looked at 71 geothermal fields globally.

For a global average, BNEF quotes a capacity factor of 73% and correctly notes that developers use much higher capacity factors for their project finance models. Higher resource temperatures statistically increase capacity factors at a rate of around 1% per 10 degrees Celsius. The performance of the different fields varies widely, with Iceland, Mexico and Indonesia representing the highest capacity factors. The age of the plants in Japan and the Philippines is mentioned as a reason for the lower capacity factors in both countries, through decreasing productivity of geothermal fields over time.

In detail the report goes into general trends of plant performance, performance by technology, country and developers.

In an interview with Mark Taylor the Head of Geothermal at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, he said, that “the findings might not be ideal for the industry, but geothermal energy is still base-load given its 90% availability. Also utilities in the U.S. still favor Geothermal and consider it a viable base-load option. This means that developers can still secure healthy power purchase agreements (PPA) and capital should be available for good projects.”

For financial institutions, capacity factors are important and information like that provided by Bloomberg New Energy Finance is crucial for the questions investors need to ask and developers need to be prepared to answer. “Lower than expected capacity factors could though mean difficulties with regards to not meeting PPA contract requirements, as well as meeting debt and interest payments through a decrease in revenues,” Mark Taylor added.

Geothermal development always has a risk element when it comes to resource assessment, drilling and planning, but the report by Bloomberg shows that it is crucial to be conservative in estimates as they determine the underlying contractual terms of the PPA, but also the availability of financing.

Again – and I mentioned this in various presentations these past 12 months – it is the question about the necessity about being conservative and successful, rather than overpromise and not live up to estimates given. The geothermal reporting codes by Australia and Canada are providing a codified approach to reporting of resource assessments that could help create investor confidence in projects, but also be one helpful element in securing PPAs that live up to expectations on both sides.

ThinkGeoEnergy would like to thank its advertisement partners that have helped to keep the site running. So my sincere thanks to Íslandsbanki, Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR), GeothermEx, Hannon Armstrong, Verkís, Mannvit, Technip, Iceland Drilling and the many other firms who have helped in one or another way.

This year was quite an active one for ThinkGeoEnergy. Finally late this summer, the Geothermal Job Portal was launched with now several jobs posted. Clearly it will need to grow and it will.

Earlier this month GeoEnergy, the iPhone news app for ThinkGeoEnergy was published on the App Store and allows a condense news overview for those of you using an iPhone. It will be tried to offer an Android app as well, but this might take a while.

In October, ThinkGeoEnergy – together with ISOR – published the Geothermal Power Map, a printed world map with the locations of the geothermal fields of this world. The online version is still a work-in-progress, but will be worked to a useable format in 2012.

To many of you, I would like to extend my gratitude for your ongoing dedication to geothermal energy and development in general. Many of you became good friends and I cherish our friendship and ongoing cooperation. Keep up the fight for development in Asia, the Pacific region, Australia, U.S., Canada, Chile, Argentina, Turkey and so on.

I wish you all a peaceful and regenerating holiday season. I am looking forward seeing many of you at the several geothermal events in 2012.

With all the best wishes for 2012,

Alex(ander) Richter

“The company will assist in drilling three test wells in the Roseau Valley under an EC$17 million (US$6.29 million) contract with the Roosevelt Skerrit administration.

The prime minister said the government is committed to the project, though it has become more difficult to access financial resources at this time.

“We would have to spend even more to realize that important investment in Dominica,” he said, adding that the French departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique will benefit from the country’s geothermal resources.

“I always maintain that our geothermal resource must be shared with our friends and brothers and sisters there. We have to find a way. I believe that would be the biggest single project which would demonstrate how, with the use of resources, we can foster an integration process among ourselves,” Skerrit said during the ceremony to launch the project.

The project is being funded by the government, the European Union and the French Development Agency.

Minister for Energy Rayburn Blackmoore said the country must have a clear sense of the “size and quality” of the energy resource, “if we are to achieve the objectives that we are looking”.

He said those objectives include building a small plant to supply local demand and the construction of a 120 mega watt power plant to supply Guadeloupe and Martinique.

He has predicted that Dominica could begin benefitting from the project within two years.”

Source: Caribbean360

GeoEnergy – the ThinkGeoEnergy Geothermal News App

Long time in the making it now available on the App Store. “GeoEnergy” is a news application of ThinkGeoEnergy.com. It provides the complete news overview, access to the Twitter feed of ThinkGeoEnergy, the latest contributions posted on Flickr and YouTube, as well as regional feeds of geothermal news around the global.

As far as I am aware it is the first real Geothermal Energy focused App for the iPhone.

The app is available for free on the App Store. It has cost me though considerable nerves, effort and time to put it up, so if you feel rather generous any donations are welcome. To donate Click here

I might also spend some time creating an app for Android, but this might take a while.

“We are not responsible for capitalizing the project. That will be done by the owners of the project, which are West Indies Power Limited/Renovo Capital. They are the ones who have made advances to EXIM Bank to get funding for the geothermal project,” Minister Carlisle Powell said at a recent media briefing.

The Nevis Island Administration has signaled for months that it would pursue a loan guarantee for West Indies Power (WIP), the developers and operators of the Nevis Geothermal plant.

“What we have in Nevis from the government point of view is an agreement with West Indies Power Limited; West Indies Power Limited now involves partners Renovo Capital out of the Unites States of America, and we signed a power purchase agreement with them,” the Minister said.

Mr. Powell then disclosed that the NIA had taken the sovereign loan issue off the table.

“We signed a loan guarantee with West Indies Power Limited. That has since been recalled,” he said.

“I’ll tell you why. Everybody in this room must know that we are…in an arrangement with the IMF, because of that and the debt restructuring…we have had to look carefully at the loan guarantee which becomes part of what the government could technically owe.”

Minister Powell said that the NIA would still end up guaranteeing the loan through the power purchase agreement.

“I must say…that that is something which we asked them to do from the beginning. But they preferred to have a loan guarantee. They are now going to use the power purchase agreement which is just as strong.”

He told reporters that under the power purchase agreement NEVLEC – local electricity company – was committed to buying 10 megawatts of energy from West Indies Power Limited/Renovo Capital at an “agreed price.”

“Inside the power purchase agreement and the contract it already says if NEVLEC cannot pay then the owner of NEVLEC will have to pay. The Nevis Island Administration own 100 percent of the shares of NEVLEC so it comes straight back down to the government in any case,” Minister Powell said.

West Indies Power Limited was awarded a geothermal contract in 2006 and completed exploration in 2007. In 2008 the company said it discovered a more than 300 megawatt resource on the island. In 2009 the well field and engineering plant designs were reportedly completed, while last year the focus was on engineering and funding.”

Source: WinnFM

The start of exploration drilling for geothermal energy at the island of Dominica in the Caribbean is scheduled at the end of November or early December. Plans call for drilling of three 1000-1200 m deep wells. Two Icelandic companies, ÍSOR and Iceland Drilling (Jardboranir), were contracted by the local government to carry out the project. Iceland Drilling will be in charge of the drilling while ÍSOR will tend to environmental monitoring, geological consulting in connection with the drilling and well logging. Additionally, ÍSOR specialists will conduct discharge measurements and investigate the chemistry of geothermal fluid and steam.

A specially equipped truck from ÍSOR, which will be used for well logging, and a portable lab have been placed aboard a ship heading for Dominica. This is the first time that ÍSOR sends this kind of equipment out of Iceland. The drill Sleipnir, owned by Iceland Drilling, was also aboard the ship along with a variety of other equipment. Environmental monitoring in connection with the drilling starts now in November when a specialist from ÍSOR begins to collect samples from near the intended drilling site. The objective with this sample collection is to obtain background information so that comparison can be made with samples collected during the drilling and for a few months afterwards.

Considerable geothermal research has been conducted at Caribbean islands. ÍSOR has, for instance, counseled governments of the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica and Nevis. The French earth science geological institute BRGM has investigated the possibility of geothermal exploitation at the island of Dominica, which is considered to be the ideal place to start exploration drilling because of its substantial geothermal potential.

Dominica is a volcanically active island with considerable surface manifestations of geothermal activity. The island has 70 thousand inhabitants with about 70-80% of its electricity at present produced with diesel generators. The country derives today about 20%-30% of its electricity from hydro facilities on the island. Great expectations are attached to the drilling as islanders hope that in the future electricity will be generated with geothermal energy. This would save valuable foreign currency and be more environmentally friendly.

According to ÍSOR geologist Dadi Thorbjörnsson, who has been involved in preparations for the project, the people of Dominica are highly conscious about their environment and the magnificent nature which can be found at the island, and are keen to monitor the potential effect of drilling on the surroundings. The scale of the project is large for Dominica and can be compared to the development of the district heating services in Iceland.”

[A correction was made followed comment from Dominica. An earlier version of this piece quoted that all electricity is derived from diesel, but in fact 20-30% are derived from hydro and the rest from diesel power generation.]

Source: ISOR

According to Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, geothermal development held the potential to significantly change the fortunes of citizens in Dominica, Nevis and those in the sub-region of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

He said it had the potential to provide a stable, cleaner and lower-cost electricity supply option.

“Dominica sees the development of its geothermal resource as having the potential of changing its energy status from being one of a net importer of energy to being a net exporter of energy.

“But this must be developed in conjunction with several other countries to create the critical market size for that energy,” he said.

“Our geothermal energy development must be seen as a regional enterprise.

“It is not about Dominica only, but how we can work together to deliver this very important resource to the people of the Caribbean region,” Skerrit added.

He said natural gas had the same potential and that similar cooperation was needed if the proposed natural gas pipeline from Trinidad was to provide a lower-cost fuel option to Eastern Caribbean states.

“Advancement towards an improved energy situation for many CARICOM countries will depend on increased functional cooperation, while at the same time benefiting the regional integration process,” he stressed.

Speaking at the inaugural David Thompson Memorial Lecture last week, Skerrit said that a secure, affordable and sustainable supply of energy was critical for the economic survival and prosperity of the countries in the region.

“Unless the high cost of energy is addressed, many of the noble economic objectives will not be realized . . . .

“Some cleaner alternative energy sources such as geothermal and natural gas will not realize their full potential to provide lower-cost fuel supplies unless there is a significant cooperation among other member states,” he said.”

Source: Barbados Nation News

The map is currently only available in a limited number of copies, but might be available for sale in the near future.

Reported by local news “the project is being funded by the London-based Department for International Development (DFID) and the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

A government statement said that since the beginning of volcanic activity here in 1995, “the island has been challenged with supplying its population with power.

“For the past 15 years Montserrat Utilities Ltd. (MUL) has been using high speed containerised diesel generating sets to meet the electricity demand. The Gensets were designed for emergency situations and with a service life of about ten years”

But over the past five years, there has been increased electricity blackouts impacting heavily on local production.

Acting Premier and Minister of Communications Charles T. Kirnon said he was grateful for the grant made by the British government and the CDB for “bridging the financial gap to enable us to complete the project”.

Kirnon said the government is actively exploring renewable sources of energy “to reduce the island’s dependence on imported fossil fuel for its energy needs.

“Government is therefore advancing its plans at geothermal development,” he added.

DFID is providing EC$22.4 million (US$8.29 million) while the CDB is providing a soft loan of EC$ 6.7 million (US$2.48 million) and one million dollars (US$370,370) grant from the CDB for the project.

DFID Programme Representative Kato Kimbugwe, said increased outages will make Montserrat un-attractive to investors, which is critical for the islands further development. He said DFID’s “intervention, enables MUL to provide and efficient, secure and reliable electricity service”.

“DFID is currently working with the government to determine the best approach to geothermal development that would be a catalyst for wider economic development leading to self-sufficiency. There are various strands of work underway that will culminate in a decision before the end of the year.”

CDB’s Portfolio Manager Allison Davis, said improvements in the delivery of electricity service “will facilitate increased activity in the productive sectors and this in turn would stimulate economic growth.”

Source: Nation News

Mr Lewis said a target to restrict global warming to those two degrees is “probably unrealistic now, because of the politics; not because the technology isn’t there, not because with the right policies it’s just not possible – it’s just that there isn’t the political will”.

Without the United States signing up, there’s unlikely to be a global deal on emissions reduction negotiated at the next climate summit in Durban, South Africa. Without such a pact, there will be no successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

“Frankly the UN process has become, not totally irrelevant, but it’s not the forum where a meaningful global deal is going to be brokered that will get you on a two degrees centigrade trajectory,” Paris-based Mr Lewis said on a recent visit to Australia.

“That is not the political framework through which this (trajectory) is going to be delivered. I can’t tell you there is a ready-made alternative framework in place that will allow a global deal to be delivered because I don’t believe that either.”

So while putting a price on carbon emissions is a key incentive for renewable development, including geothermal, with no global deal it will be difficult. The article then also goes into the cutting emissions, and argues that countries – given the economic difficulties – will not deliver the emission reductions promised.

But progress will happen and come through “bottom-up” deals in “juristidcations “including Australia, California (which will have an emissions trading scheme from January 2013), South Korea, Japan (once it had recovered from this year’s natural disasters), China and Brazil take effect, Deutsche’s Mr Lewis said.”

Another point raised would be eventually rising oil, gas and coal prices. Something that at the moment looks like it won´t happen for some time. But with technological development in the renewable technologies, cost curves for the industry will go down and then maybe in some time, clean technologies “become viable on a stand-alone basiis, even without a carbon price.”

What does this mean for geothermal? Well, first of all geothermal is attractive as a base-load capacity renewable. Secondly it is – depending on geographical location – very cost competitive. So while there is a strong start up risk for geothermal development, it is already from a price perspective very attractive. It just needs to get over those first early hurdles. Carbon pricing clearly would help in getting the right partners to join. Good example is Australia, where utilities and power off-takers have taken stakes in geothermal development.

Source:: The Age (Australia)

The drilling plan conducted by West Indies Power (Dominica) Ltd. calls for the drilling of 2-3 “slim holes” to a depth of 1000m. Slim holes are 2-6 inch wells that are drilled to test for temperature, pressure, and solution chemistry. The results of these tests will allow WIP to determine the size and composition of the geothermal reservoir and to begin
designing the geothermal power plant to use those geothermal solutions.

Construction of the drill sites will begin in 4th quarter of 2011 and drilling is planned for 2nd quarter of 2012. It will employ both foreign contractors and Dominican workers.

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP, stated “ WIP is pleased to have been granted the right be able to begin drilling in Soufriere. For years people have suspected that there is a geothermal reservoir in this area and now we will be able to finally prove it’s existence.”

Source: Company release via e-mail

The plant will be a single flash geothermal power plant that will initially have an output of 8.5MW. This plant has the capacity to be expanded to 13MW.

The initial work consists of site clearing, surveying, geotech testing, drill pad and power pad construction. This work will take approximately two months to complete and is being
performed by various local Nevisian contractors.

The production drilling is scheduled to begin in September. The drilling rig will arrive in Nevis August/September, of this year, and will move to the Springhill site once the drilling pad has been completed.

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP, stated “It has been a long time coming but WIP is pleased to begin the construction of the Nevis Geothermal Plant that will bring low cost reliable electricity to the people of Nevis in 2012”.

Source: Company release

PRMD will send, to Nevis, its’ Rig 12 which is a specially constructed geothermal production drilling rig. The drilling rig has the ability to drill large size geothermal production wells to 10,000 ft. The drill stands 185 ft high and requires a 100ft by 300 ft drill pad to operate. Each well will take approximately 45 days to drill.

Rig 12 is currently located in Belize and will be shipped to Nevis in August of this year. The drilling at Spring Hill is to commence in September.

PRMD is the Nevisan subsidiary of the Marriott Drilling Group from the UK. The Group has been conducting drilling operations for 65 years. It has extensive experience in geothermal well drilling, having drilled geothermal production wells in Central America, Kenya, UK, Ireland, and other locations.

Kerry McDonald CEO of WIP stated “WIP is fortunate to be associated with such a internationally experienced geothermal drilling contractor as PRMD. It brings experience in the field of geothermal drilling that will insure the timely success of the Nevis Geothermal Project and the delivery of reliable low cost geothermal power to the people of Nevis and the Caribbean.”

Source: Company release  via e-mail

The map will be an ever ongoing project, and I am also planning a mashup that will show a more professional layer map with more sophisticated data and a form to correct/ add plant locations.

So far the map has seen about 40,000 visitors, which is fantastic but also shows that I need to continue driving it forward. So stay tuned. Also if you feel some plants are missing, please don´t hesitate sending me coordinates and details.

A great thanks to Sandro Bruni of Enel Green Power.

The Map is freely accessible via Google Maps

The report talks about that “geothermal energy today is mainly known for its reliable production of base-load power – the power needed to meet minimum demands – in areas where geological conditions permit fluids to transfer heat from the Earth to the surface in self-flowing wells at high temperatures. However, geothermal resources at moderate temperatures can be found in aquifers that are widespread. Such resources can be used in binary power plants, combined heat and power plants or in heat-only applications. Emerging geothermal technologies that extract energy from the hot rock resources found everywhere in the world hold much promise for expanding the production of geothermal power and heat.

This roadmap envisions that by 2050, geothermal electricity generation could reach 1,400 TWh per year, i.e. around 3.5% of global electricity production. Geothermal heat could contribute 5.8 EJ annually by 2050. For geothermal energy for heat and power to claim its share of the coming energy revolution, concerted action is required by scientists, industry, governments, financing institutions and the public. This roadmap is intended to help drive these necessary developments.”

The report has its flaws by looking primarily at EGS overlooking the great potential of conventional geothermal resources for both power generation and heating purposes. It also doesn’t stress out the unique position of geothermal with regards to the combined energy supply, as well as the great potential geothermal could play for individual countries and regions. The International Geothermal Business Coalition, a joint group by several international Geothermal Energy Associations believes that the quoted potential of geothermal providing 3.5% of total electricity supply in the world, is probably not ambitious enough.

The report is available here: IEA Geothermal Technology Roadmap (pdf)

The contract is for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a 8.5MW net single flash power plant and related facilities, a 33 kv substation, 8 miles of buried electrical transmission cable between the Spring Hill Geothermal Plant and the existing NEVLEC Prospect Power Station with associated facilities.

The contract has a value of approximately USD$29MM and work is expected to begin at the Spring Hill, Nevis site in June/July of this year.

CCC Group, Inc. (www.cccgroupinc.com) is an international industrial general contractor with fabrication and engineering capabilities. Operating as an employee owned company and with safety and quality at the helm of every project, CCC Group offers a broad scope of self-performed construction services to a wide range of industries including geothermal, transmission, alternative energy, and power as well as many other heavy industrial markets. Along with a strong technical background, CCC Group is adept at working abroad and is committed to solid working relationships with local contractors and resources. CCC’s success is proven in having a continuous presence in the Caribbean for over 12 years as well as a permanent base of operations in Jamaica.

The TurboCare Group (www.turbocare.com) of Businesses is the world’s largest network of independent service providers, operating in countless locations around the world. TurboCare is not only a global leader in the geothermal market, but provides customers with an unsurpassed combination of responsiveness, dependability and quality in the industrial and power generation markets in more than 100 countries worldwide. TurboCare has been serving the steam turbine industrial and power generation market in The Caribbean for over 20 years in Aruba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the US Virgin Islands. TurboCare, Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens Energy, Inc.

POWER Engineers (www.powereng.com) is an engineering consulting firm which specializes in energy projects: power plant engineering, and engineering for power transmission and distribution facilities. POWER is one of the world’s leading geothermal plant engineering companies, and has been responsible for design of more than 600 MW of new geothermal plant capacity – in Africa, Central America, Europe, North America, Indonesia, and the Philippines – in the past two decades. POWER is also the U.S.’ leading independent experts in transmission and distribution design, including submarine and underground transmission. POWER was involved in owner engineering and startup assistance to BRGM for the Bouillante II geothermal project in Guadeloupe. POWER is an employee-owned company with 1,200 employees located in the U.S., South Africa, the U.K. and Chile.

Energy & Advanced Control Technologies, Inc. (EACT) is engaged in providing engineering consultancy and contracting in the areas of Building (MEP) Services, Electrical Distribution Systems, High-Voltage Switcgear and Equipment Testing and Power System Protection. The company places emphasis on those projects requiring specialized engineering and knowledge such as Underground Distribution, High-Voltage Systems and Automation. EACT and its strategic partners, Tripple-W, have extensive experience in substation engineering, including the construction, testing and commissioning of Substations and Transmission Lines for the Saint Lucia Electricity Company (LUCELEC) and the Saint Vincent Electricity Company (VINLEC), ranging in voltages from 11kV to 69kV. The company is therefore well-placed to undertake both design and construction of all Utility Systems.

West Indies Power (WIP) is an independent power producer specializing in the development of geothermal energy in the Caribbean with geothermal development projects on Nevis/St. Kitts, Dominica, Saba and other Caribbean islands.”

Source: Company release by e-mail

The Minister addressed the matter when he spoke to the Department of Information late Friday from Puerto Rico where he was at the time attending a conference on matters related to geothermal development.

“This article is malicious deliberately wilful, politically motivated and misleading and is another attempt by the publisher Mr. Kenneth Williams to tarnish the reputation of Nevis Island Administration and the major strides it has made with regard to the development of our geothermal resource here on Nevis,” he said.

The Minister explained that the Export Import Bank of America had been advised of the article and they had since refuted all references made to the financial institution, citing that they had neither dumped nor disapproved of the application for financing of the geothermal project but in fact was still under consideration.

“Mr. John Schuster Vice President of Project Finance stated that the article was incorrect and had informed the paper via telephone and in writing and that they had contacted media parties on Nevis to refute the story. He said he was greatly upset by the matter and was hopeful that corrective measures they had taken would address the situation and set the record straight,” Mr. Powell said.

The misleading article came on the heels of a recent Parliamentary Sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly when Premier of Nevis Hon. Joseph Parry passed a resolution which would guarantee a US$63million dollar loan to geothermal developers West Indies Power.

The loan would facilitate WIP’s construction of a power plant at Spring Hill and the Nevis Electricity Company’s (NEVLEC) cable network that would deliver the geothermal energy from the plant at Spring Hill to the Power Plant at Prospect.”

Source: SKN Vibes

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP stated: “This is a great moment for the geothermal project on Nevis and the Caribbean. This approval is one of the requirements needed to complete the financing of the geothermal project by the Export Import Bank of the United States and to allow WIP to commence physical work at Spring Hill so that it can provide geothermal power to Nevis in 2012.”

West Indies Power Holding B.V. is an independent power producer specializing in the development of geothermal energy in the Caribbean with operations on the islands of Nevis, Saba and Dominica.”

Source: Company release via e-mail

The passage of the resolution follows a recent high-level visit of officials from Ex-Im Bank –including its vice president John Schuster, senior loan officer Uduak Essien, attorney Michaela Ricchiute, and Financial Advisor Chris Dymond – to complete Ex-Im’s evaluation of the Nevis Geothermal Project.

Finance Minister and Premier Joseph Parry, who moved the resolution, said the geothermal project is “unprecedented in the eyes of the people of this part of the hemisphere, in the eyes of the people of CARICOM and the OECS and specifically for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis”.

“It will not only impact on government’s revenues, but it will bring down the cost of energy on the island, it should impact on prices in the business sector, and it should serve as an attraction to businesses and certainly in terms of green energy and a green country, it will make Nevis an exceptional place in the world,” he said.

Energy Minister Carlisle Powell said that approving the resolution would unlock millions of dollars in financing for one of the most important projects in the history of Nevis.

“Geothermal development is important for the two islands because it would help insulate them from the high and variable costs of distillate and reduce CO2 emissions. St. Kitts and Nevis would benefit from large savings in the region of US$159 million from geothermal developments on Nevis and an interconnection to St. Kitts,” Powell said.

“The savings are much higher than the increased cost associated with developing the plant and the interconnection and those were put at around US$100 million.”

Powell also noted that the realization of the Geothermal Project will also open up a US$1 billion industry, larger than even the tourism and offshore financial services, in the export of electricity to neighboring countries including Puerto Rico.

President Barrack Obama’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status recently recommended “to advance discussions in the Caribbean region on the potential for subsea electrical interconnection under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, the Department of State, through a grant to the Organization of American States (OAS), should fund a pre-feasibility study to examine an interconnection between Puerto Rico and St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Premier Parry was invited and will meet with Puerto Rico Energy officials to continue ongoing discussions of the export of electricity to Puerto Rico in early May.”

Source: Caribbean360

Icelandic exploration services firm ISOR has signed a corresponding service agreement with the project.

The services to be provided by ISOR, are threefold: services on well geology work, including temperature and pressure measurements during the drilling campaign, to carry out flow tests on the wells and fluid sampling, as well as environmental monitoring related to groundwater control associated with drilling and flow testing.

It is estimated that the work will start by the end of June/ July and will continue for 4-5 months. The environmental monitoring will last longer or up to 10-12 months.

Dominica is a small volcanic island in the southern Caribbean (West Indies).  It’s an independent, a former British colony, with a population of about 70,000. The island is about 750 square kilometers. Considerable geothermal heat is on the island and are now plans to drill three slim hole wells on the southern island, in an area called Wotten Wave, about 5 km east the capital of Roseau.

Source: ISOR (in Icelandic)

“The contracts for the nearly $17 million project were signed yesterday between the Icelandic company and the government of Dominica. Funded by the French, European Union and Dominican government, this project is expected to provide an alternative local energy source, in addition to exporting to the neighboring French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

One of the expected benefits of this initiative according to officials is to lower government’s expenditure on energy costs.

Minister responsible for Energy and Ports Rayburn Blackmoore told the signing ceremony yesterday that the government spends way too much on energy.
“In 2008, we spent $49.1 million on diesel import for the purpose of energy generation. 2009, my dear friends, we spent $63.1 million for the same activity. For the first half of 2010, we spent $38.9 million. This simply means we’re spending too much money on the importation of diesel for the express purpose of energy generation,” he informed.

“Further, we the consumers, pay 58 cents for the first 50 kilowatts per hour on our bills and 67 cents for above 50 kilowatts per hour. When one compounds that with the reality of an average of 43 cents on every dollar for a fuel surcharge, we can appreciate the impact that it’s having on our economy in a negative way on the individual households, especially in the rural communities…We cannot get to the next level with that reality,” he stated.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that the initiative will create employment for locals.

The project is set to commence on July 22, 2011 while completion is set for December 21, 2012. Drilling will occur in the Laudat and Wotten Waven communities.”

Source: Dominica Central, further details on the project and contract via Caribbean News Now

West Indies Power (WIP) proposes to supply geothermal energy to Puerto Rico, by 2015, via a submarine cable similar to what is already in use in Europe (Norway to Holland).

The US Government’s backing of the idea came in the ‘Report by the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status’, which offers concrete proposals to spur the Puerto Rico economy as well as specific transportation, energy and federal programme proposals.

It recommends that “to advance discussions in the Caribbean region on the potential for subsea electrical interconnection under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, the Department of State, through a grant to the Organization of American States (OAS), should fund a pre-feasibility study to examine an interconnection between Puerto Rico and St. Kitts and Nevis”.

“This work results from a request from the government of St. Kitts and Nevis for the Department of State’s assistance as it tries to develop Nevis’ geothermal resources (estimated potential of up to 300 megawatts (MW)). St. Kitts and Nevis’ power demand is approximately 40 MW, making Puerto Rico an important prospective market,” it added.

WIP’s Chief Executive Officer Kerry McDonald said the company was happy to see that the US Government supports the company’s idea of a ‘Caribbean Interconnect Project’ which proposes the creation of a submarine electrical grid to supply electrical power from its geothermal power plants in Nevis, Dominica and Saba to the islands of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico.

Source: Company release via Caribbean 360

The team’s visit aimed to complete Ex-Im’s evaluation of the Nevis Geothermal Project so that a recommendation of loan approval can be forwarded to the Ex-Im Board of Directors this coming April.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) www.exim.gov is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. With more than 70 years of experience, Ex-Im Bank has supported more than $400 billion of U.S. exports, primarily to developing markets worldwide.

The Ex-Im representatives had meetings with senior government officials of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) and Nevis Electricity Company Ltd (Nevlec), including Premier Hon. Joseph Parry; Junior Minister Carlisle Powell; Laurie Lawrence, Financial Secretary; Ernie Stapleton, Chairman of Nevlec; and Cartwright Farrell, General Manager of Nevlec.

They also toured the Geothermal Development site at Spring Hill and met with the senior management of WIP and with its financial partners Renova Capital Partners.

Renova Capital Partners www.renovacap.com – a Denver-based private investment partnership founded in 2007 to finance, develop, own and aggregate middle-market renewable energy infrastructure assets – has partnered with WIP to provide equity and financial services for the Nevis Geothermal project.

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP, stated “The Ex-Im group was very impressed with the Nevis Geothermal Project and stated their intent to support the recommendation to the Ex-Im Board of Directors to finance the Project. This will be the first loan ever given by Ex-Im to a project on Nevis and will be the largest that it has ever given to a project in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. WIP is pleased to have the support of the official export credit agency of the US Government in the development of the Nevis Geothermal Project.”

Source: West Indies Power announcement, SKNVibes

The interim partnership and investment agreement provides immediate funding to begin pre-construction activities on Phase 1 of the project which has now started. A jointly owned project development company will be formed in St. Lucia with a mix of equity and debt funding to be provided by the new partner. Qualibou in turn will assign its contracts with LUCELEC, to the new project development company. Subject to final evaluation of competing funding offers, closing is expected to occur during the second week of April 2011.

“The agreement represents a major milestone in the development our project in St. Lucia. Future revenues from this first concession will provide a substantial return to our shareholders, without dilution,” stated Stephen Baker, President of Qualibou Energy Inc.

Qualibou Energy Inc. is an emerging, renewable energy entity with a growth strategy emphasizing development of non-polluting, sustainable geothermal resources. The company’s first geothermal concession is located in St. Lucia and has an energy development potential of 120 MW.”

Source: Company release via Globe Newswire

“[I would like] to give notice to the people of Nevis about the hearings on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), for the development of the geothermal power plant at Spring Hill and the substation and power lines that would be put into Prospect from the geothermal power plant. That will be discussed at two public consultations this coming week.

“There will be a public consultation on Monday February 7th at 7o’clock at the Red Cross Building in Charlestown and there will be a public consultation on Tuesday February 8th at the Methodist Church School in Fountain. There will also be a call in radio programme at 7pm on Wednesday February 9th on Choice FM,” he said.

Mr. McDonald explained that the public forums were a requirement in both the Geothermal Contract with the Nevis Island Administration, the Geothermal Ordinance and also for the funding agency the Export Import Bank (EXIM) in the United States of America. The requirement would facilitate the further development of the geothermal power project on Nevis.

The consultation will take a formal format on the EIA that was filed in December with Premier of Nevis Hon. Joseph Parry and the EXIM Bank. Copies of the document have since been made available for public viewing at the Charlestown Public Library, the Department of Planning and it has also been posted on the bank’s website.

Mr. McDonald said there would be a full complement of persons on hand to answer questions from the public. He noted that he would be joined by Mr. Stewart Russell who compiled and wrote the EIA, a representative from the manufacturers of the power plant who will address the plant and its operations and a representative from the drilling company who will speak to the effects of the drilling.

At the conclusion of the consultations, Mr. Kerry said the transcriptions would be presented as part of records to the Export Import Bank, in furtherance of the loan qualification by West Indies Power for the project.

The EIA is filed by West Indies Power but also has to be approved by the NIA and the Bank after which physical operations at the Spring Hill site could continue.

“Once we start the plant will be installed by the end of this year and will be in operation by the first quarter of next year.

“Once the EIA is approved, as is or with modification it is then presented to the Board of Directors of the Export Import Bank for their final approval and that’s the final action to occur. The Export Import Bank’s next Board meeting is the end of March but once the approval is given, that then allows us to start actually doing some work,” he said.

Notwithstanding, in response to a question Mr. Mc Donald disclosed that the geothermal project had experienced two major events that had set it back by a year and a half.

“It took so long for basically two reasons. Reason number one was the economic meltdown that happened and actually we had gone all the way almost to this point before it happened. So that actually cost us a year and a half.

“Then the other fact was there has been a change in the ownership of West Indies Power. The negotiations of the buyout of one party by the other basically took longer than we thought but that was completed in January of this year,” he said.

According to Mr. Mc Donald, the new buyer was Renova Capital Partners, a renewable energy fund based in Denver Colorado. They bought out Antilles Power which was the shareholder that was originally a part of the company.

The CEO said the public should also be mindful of a 30 day requirement after the EIA was filed in keeping with the bank’s regulations.

“March is when you will start seeing action on the ground and the reason is we have to have the EIA hearings. Once the EIA is approved, remember it was filed in December and we had to give it 30 days by Export Import Bank regulations so that’s what basically pushed it back another 30 days. So now our 30 days has passed and we are going to the public hearings,” he said.”

Source: SKNVibes

The EIA was also filed with the Export Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) on December 15, 2010. The filing of this document is one of the requirements necessary to receive funding from these US government agencies.

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP stated: “WIPN is happy to announce the completion of this year long project to provide the necessary studies to complete and file the EIA necessary to receive the authorization to proceed with the financing and development of the geothermal resources on Nevis. This is truly a milestone in the development of geothermal power on Nevis and in the Caribbean.”

Copies of the EIA will be available at the Library in Nevis and posted on the EXIM www.exim.gov and OPIC www.opic.gov websites.

West Indies Power (WIP) is an independent power producer specializing in the development of geothermal energy in the Caribbean with geothermal development projects on Nevis/St. Kitts, Dominica, Saba and other Caribbean islands.”

Source: Company release via e-mail

A visibly elated Premier Parry told the Department of Information on Tuesday on the heels of a meeting at his Bath Hotel Office with geothermal developers West Indies Power and an advance team of geothermal plant designers, engineers and budget planners involved in the construction of the geothermal plant at Spring Hill along with a representative from the project’s financiers, that the NIA had placed its bets on geothermal development in the interest of the people of Nevis and Phase II of the project meant everything.

According to the information he had received from West Indies Power Executives, drilling geothermal holes for the 10megawatt power plant at Spring Hill, would commence in the latter part of January or early February next year and onsite work on the actual geothermal power plant would begin in March. Financing for the project had also been finalised.

“This stage of the project means everything to the Nevis Island Administration. We have placed our bets on the development of geothermal on the island as a means to diversify the economy and to provide cheaper and consistent electricity; to provide electricity for St. Kitts and possibly beyond St. Kitts…

“The government of Puerto Rico is interested in the geothermal energy if we are ever able to supply geothermal energy to them. So it means everything – jobs, more cascading industries, other industries and furthermore to make Nevis the first green government in the western hemisphere and eventually to make St. Kitts and Nevis the first green nation in the western hemisphere,” he said.

Mr. Parry, who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Mr. Laurie Lawrence, pointed to the involvement of United States Secretary of State Mrs. Hilary Clinton and her husband Mr. Bill Clinton’s push for geothermal energy development in the region.

“I believe that the American government will be happy to be associated with that and the entire region because what it will do basically is to confirm Nevis as a leader.

“We have the first wind farm in the OECS, we have the water project which is one of the first of its type in the OECS and with the geothermal energy we will not only be a leader but we will be an example to the rest of the Caribbean and CARICOM areas, that you don’t sit around and wait for grants and handouts but you can develop your resources for the benefit of your people,” he said.

The Premier said the announcement of the start date for Phase II of the geothermal development project on Nevis had come when oil prices on the world market seem to be on the rise due to circumstances occurring in the United States of America.

He said as a result Nevis like other islands of the Caribbean were subject to the vagaries of the movement of the US dollar and the Nevis Island Administration wanted to eliminate that because the island’s economy could not withstand with those shocks which were coming more frequently over the past few years.

“We don’t know where the situation will end. We certainly don’t want to be once again at a point where the price of oil is being sold for US$150 a barrel and that would be just too much for the consumers here who use electricity on the island of Nevis. So we need to have this project done and we need to have it done fast,” he said.

Notwithstanding, in an invited response with regard to recognition Nevis continued to receive for its bold and pioneering decision to develop its renewable energy resources, Mr. Parry who is also the Minister responsible for Tourism said, worldwide recognition was part of the strategy as well.

He reminded that tourism was another of the island’s top priorities and if the name of Nevis became known worldwide, that’s the way the NIA wanted it to be.

“It’s good for us in terms of tourism, it’s good for us in terms of other investment because businesspeople know and they would look at their options and see if it makes sense to have anything to do with Nevis.

“Of course we know we are small, we have a small population, we have a small land mass [and] we don’t expect people are going to come here in great numbers. If they do we are in trouble but we certainly want some quality people to come and invest on the island and it means a lot for our treasury and our employment situation,” he said.

The team who met with Mr. Parry was led by Chief Executive Officer of West Indies Power Nevis Ltd. Mr. Kerry McDonald, the company’s General Manager Mr. Rawlinson Isaac and newly appointed Subsurfaces Wells Manager Mr. Johan Sydow.

The advance team comprised of White Construction’s Senior Industrial Estimator Mr. Ruben Olivas and Business Development/Industrial Projects Manager Mr. James Foster. That company will be responsible for installation of the geothermal plant and is the engineer procurement and construction contractor and its associates Power Engineers, was represented by Senior Project Engineer Mr. Chun Chin

TurboCare a company owned by Siemens who are constructing the plant, was represented by Geothermal Programme Director Mr. Donald Leger. President of Just Hot Resources Mr. James Hanson represented his company that will drill the new wells at Spring Hill and Director of Structured Finance of Scotiabank, International Corporate and Commercial Banking Mr. Richard McCorkindale.”

Source: Caribbean Press Releases

The CEO made the disclosure in an interview with the Department of Information on Tuesday, during a field visit with members of an advance team who were on Nevis to lay the groundwork for construction of the 10megawatt geothermal plant at Spring Hill ahead of the planned start of Phase II of the project.

“January is the date that this project will begin. The contracts are in place the financing has been finalised and we will begin drilling in January. The rigs will arrive in January and the holes will begin drilling end of January first part of February. The plant will be started for installation in March and we plan to be producing power no later than the end of 2011. So in 2011 the people of Nevis will have their cheaper geothermal power,” he said.

Mr. McDonald explained that the project had been delayed because financing for the project had been adversely affected due to the world economic meltdown in 2008 which continued to affect parts of the world even today.

However, financiers the Export Import Bank of America along with the Bank of Novia Scotia had agreed to fund the US$31million required to complete the US$41million project in Nevis.

“We were luckily able to get our financial support to go forward with the project. The project itself will end up costing US$45million, we have currently spent since 2007 US$14million on the island for drilling the three wells and doing all the exploration work, plus doing a lot of the work that people on the island don’t see – the engineering, the design, the environmental studies that we have to do. Those have been ongoing for this last year but those are critical for us to develop the plant.

“The Export Import Bank has told us that they are willing to go forward with the remainder of the US$41million which is basically US$31million and that is what they will be spending over his year in 2011 on the island,” he said.

According to Mr. McDonald, the project will move rapidly ahead when it commences early next year, now that funding had been secured to supply the people of Nevis with geothermal energy in the quickest time possible.

He explained the reason behind the advanced team’s visit so that everything will be in place when the drill rigs arrive on Nevis at the start of January.

Meantime, Mr. McDonald used the opportunity to make clear the difference between the exploratory works that had been carried out on Nevis and the new holes to be drilled.

“West Indies Power in 2007/2008 drilled three wells one at Spring Hill one at upper Jessups and one at Hamilton. Those were exploration wells that allowed us to determine what the potential size of the resource here on Nevis is and what the chemistry of the resource is. We needed that information so that the plant people could design the plant to supply the power to Nevis. Those wells were all very successful but in the future they will be plugged and shut down because they will not be used anymore.

“The wells that Mr. Hansen will be drilling at Spring Hill, is where the drilling and the 10megawatt plant will be,” he said.

The West Indies Power CEO also noted that the plugged holes will mark the end to all the exploratory work and basically the US14million the company had spent so far on Nevis to bring the project finally to fruition.

“We plan to get all of these wells drilled over a six months period when we are building the plant so we are doing things in parallel to make sure that 2011 is the date for geothermal power to the people of Nevis,” he said.

With regard to employment opportunities in the area of construction for the people of Nevis, he said an estimated 40 new jobs would be initially created.

In conclusion, Mr. McDonald thanked the Nevis Island Administration for its support and understanding with delays experienced with the project. He said the Company remained resolute in its commitment to deliver geothermal energy to the people of Nevis in 2011.”

Source: ZIZ Online

GeothermEx Inc., a Schlumberger company, and leading geothermal consulting firm, has completed their analysis and estimates the Sulphur Springs concession area to have a much larger Proven resource value than earlier studies had indicated.

Stephen Baker, President and CEO of Qualibou Energy stated, “This new study is terrific news for Qualibou. Our Proven resource reserves are substantially greater than we first thought. With this increased value and certainty, we have upgraded our phase one build out plans from 12 MW to 20 MW (a 67% increase) as was described in yesterdays Partnership Financing press release. This report also reduces our risk of development while driving financial economies of scale into Qualibou’s first project located on the island of St. Lucia.”

Baker further stated, “This is an exciting time to be part of the geothermal community. With many opportunities to choose from, St. Lucia provides us with a terrific launch pad for further concessions around the globe.”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

Stephen Baker, President & CEO of Qualibou Energy, stated, “This is a great opportunity for Qualibou to develop the St. Lucia resource.” He continued, “This initial project will enable us to evaluate the full potential of our concession and to plan our further developments of the resource.”

Qualibou Energy Inc. is an emerging renewable energy company with a growth strategy emphasizing greenfield developments. The company’s first geothermal concession is located on St Lucia and has a development goal of 120 Megawatts. The Company’s proven and probable reserves are 170 Megawatts or 60.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).”

Source: Company release via MarketWatch

The Minister, who was invited to deliver an address at the International Business Week Conference of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) in Barbados, referred to the project as a test case for interconnection between St. Kitts and Nevis and then the wider region.

“This project is an important test case for large scale investment in the islands. I say this because the interconnection submarine cable between Nevis and Puerto Rico has been estimates at over US$500million. We are talking about major investment,” he told the businessmen.

Mr. Powell explained that even as Nevis explored the resource, two Nevisian engineers had already been exposed to training at the La Geo Geothermal Plant in El Salvador and one recently completed a Masters programme in Geothermal Reservoir Management at the United Nations University in Iceland while the other was expected to travel to Iceland shortly.

He also noted that in addition, two employees of the Nevis Electricity Services Company Ltd. would begin a geothermal training course in El Salvador in January 2011.

Meantime, while the Nevis minister addressed some of the key issues outlined in key documents involved in the renewable energy arrangements between the NIA and the renewable energy investors on Nevis.

“I should also tell you that in the Contract and Power Purchase Agreements, we negotiated terms that included Ownership by Nevis of 10 percent of the shares in the company; An option for Nevis to purchase a further 10 percent shares; Payment of taxes by the company; Royalty payments of 5 percent on domestic sales of energy and Royalty payment of 7 percent on regional sales,” he said.

Mr. Powell then invited the businessmen to approach investments in the area of green technology with open minds and urged them to examine the reality of power generation in Barbados and the wider Caribbean.

He pointed to interconnectivity as it existed in the United States of America, Canada and Europe and said the possibility existed for the Caribbean to follow. The Energy Minister said the islands had been operating independent grids which were expensive to build, costly to operate and a nightmare to maintain.

“All of them have redundancies. Think about the provinces in Canada, the different states in America and countries in Europe. One thing they have in common is interconnection. So New York purchases power from Toronto, Los Angeles from Phoenix and Germany from Austria. With the correct investment, Nevis, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Maarten, Barbados, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo could all be interconnected,” he said.

The Nevis Energy Minister referred to a recent World Bank study which he quoted as saying that customers in the Caribbean faced some of the highest electricity tariffs worldwide and their governments were increasingly concerned about the environmental burden of the current power generation, especially in tourist driven countries.

According to Mr. Powell, the Study further stated that there were alternatives to nearly exclusive use of diesel and heavy fuel oil for power generation. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and pipeline natural gas may be economically and financially viable.

“Development of submarine cable electrical interconnections among the countries would enable them to share lower cost resources, provide mutual support, gain economies of scale in power plants and systems and obtain the benefits of power pools generally,” Mr. Powell quoted the Study as saying.

He said further that the World Bank report on “Caribbean Regional Electricity Generation, Interconnection and Fuels Supply Strategy”, described interconnection between Nevis and St. Kitts 50MW, 5km, geothermal power export as highly economic and between Nevis and Puerto Rico, 400MW, 400km geothermal power export as highly economic if displaced fuel is heavy fuel oil. The report also referred to geothermal exports between other Caribbean islands.

Mr. Powell explained that investment opportunities would become available for funding and placement of the submarine cable that would connect the islands.

“There will be opportunities for maintenance of the cable. The cable route must be surveyed and the sea bed mapped. What about the possibility of laying communications cable with the power cable? This opens up the possibility of Broadband and greater bandwidth for the first world communication for our business and people,” the Nevis Minister said.”

Source: Caribbean Press Releases

Mr. Parry told the Department of Information he was pleased that the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mr. Demetrius Pocanus, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Kerry Mc. Donald and General Manager (GM) Mr. Rawlinson Isaac, were able to provide a report to the people of Nevis on the matter.

According to the CFO, the Company had reached an important benchmark, in the face of what appeared to be the absence of physical activity on the ground in Nevis. He explained however, that work had continued behind the scenes on the technical documentation, designs, the Environmental Impact Assessment studies among others.

“We are happy to report that the Environmental Impact Assessment Study is ready and will be filled with the Export Import Bank within the next week that will kick start the process of getting the loan with EXIM Bank and Scotia”.

“Also an important benchmark has been achieved – all contractors have been selected for tthis project and as a matter of fact, in September we will be purchasing the power plant out of California. Also in September we will start doing some road works and preparing the pad to start the drilling. Also in September we will start doing some road works and preparing the pad to start the drilling,” he said.

Mr. Pocanus added that physical activity on the ground which included drilling the wells and cementing the pad for the power plant was estimated to commence sometime in January.

Mr. McDonald used the opportunity to provide an insight into some of the technical details involved in the geothermal project that the Company has had to contend with.

“We will start physically having the plant designed and made ready to use in Nevis so that it will be ready to be shipped in January. Also we finish the design of the production wells which is a very important aspect, so that the production wells will work properly and provide the proper flows and are done correctly [and] that has just been finished.

“The drill that will be drilling it will be ready sometime in October. It will be ready with all the equipment to be shipped out and we plan to have drilling commence in January that will give us the ability to drill the three holes we need for Nevis so that we would be able to provide the power as we said,” he assured.

Meantime, General Manager Mr. Rawlins Isaac told Mr. Parry that the Company had been working assiduously on the ground to make connections with our various suppliers.

He noted that they would soon be a more vigorous public relations drive designed to keep the people of Nevis abreast with the happenings with regard to the various aspects of the geothermal project as work advanced, until they had delivered the geothermal energy that had been promised to the people of Nevis.”

Source: Zimbio

“Phase one of the project requires a total financing of USD $60 million of which seventy five percent is long term debt. We have received a Letter of Interest from a major US bank on the debt portion of the package, and due diligence is underway on the remaining USD $15 million. Closing is expected during the third quarter, and the drilling program will begin shortly after the entire financing is complete,” stated Stephen Baker, CEO of Qualibou.

“The goal of the drilling program is to have 15 Megawatts of energy at the wellhead,” Mr. Baker added. “This is in line with our requirements to meet projected deliveries of electricity to LUCELEC, the power utility of St Lucia.”

Qualibou Energy Inc. is an emerging renewable energy company with a growth strategy emphasizing greenfield developments. The company’s first geothermal concession is located on St Lucia and has a development goal of 120 Megawatts. The Company’s proven and probable reserves are 170 Megawatts or 60.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

Qualibou Energy, Inc. “confirmed that it will deliver all electricity from phase one of its geothermal power project to St Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC). LUCELEC is the sole electric utility of St Lucia since being founded in 1964.

“We recently finalized a Term Sheet for the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with LUCELEC which contains all principal commercial terms under which power will be delivered,” said Stephen Baker, CEO of Qualibou. “The PPA will follow in due course. Initial revenues are anticipated to be US$12 million growing to over US$100 million as the project is fully developed.”

St Lucia has a peak electricity demand of 56 Megawatts and LUCELEC currently generates all of the electricity consumed on St Lucia through diesel generation. Geothermal power will cut St Lucia’s carbon footprint significantly, enhancing its exotic destination reputation.

“LUCELEC is recognized as an industry leader throughout the Caribbean,” added Mr. Baker. “We are very fortunate to have such a high quality utility to deal with and look forward to a very long relationship with LUCELEC.”

Qualibou Energy, Inc. is an emerging renewable energy company with a growth strategy emphasizing greenfield developments. The company’s first geothermal concession is located on St Lucia with a development goal of 120 Megawatts. The Company’s proven and probable reserves are 170 Megawatts or 60.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).”

Source: Company release via Marketwatch

The procurement notice states that “The government of the Commonwealth of Dominica through the Ministry of Public Works Energy and Ports – Geothermal Project management Unit, intends to procure the services of a drilling contractor to drill at least three geothermal wells in the Wotten Waven/ Laudat area. The objective of the project is to prove the existence of high enthalpy geothermal resource suitable for commercial generation of electric power and to determine the capacity for sustainable exploitation.

Services to be provided by the contractor include mobilisation and demobilisation of the drilling rig and associated equipment, drilling of at least three wells, provision of cementing, drill-pipe inspection, and vertical drilling expertise. The provision of drilling mud and related additives and well testing services will also be required.”

“The tender dossier is available from The Geothermal Project Management Unit, Ministry of Public Works, Energy & Ports, 3rd Floor Government Headquarters, Roseau,  Commonwealth of Dominica  at no cost, except courier delivery if necessary. It is also available  for inspection at the premises of the Contracting Authority, address as in point 5 above. Tenders must be submitted using the standard tender form included in the tender dossier, whose format  and instructions must be strictly observed.

How to obtain the tender dossier: Tenderers with questions regarding this tender should send them in writing to geothermal@dominica.gov.dm and c/o The Project Co-ordinator, Geothermal Project Management Unit, Ministry of Public Works, Energy & Ports, 3rd Floor Government Headquarters, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, mentioning the publication reference shown in item 1 at least 21 days before the deadline for submission of tenders given in item 19.

The Contracting Authority must reply to all tenderers’ questions at least 11 days before the deadline for submission of tenders. Eventual clarifications or minor changes to the tender dossier will be published at the latest 11 days before the submission deadline on the EuropeAid website at: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome (link should go directly to the site with the link to the tender document, otherwise go to “English” and then search by region/ country for Dominica … top link is this tender).

Deadline for submission of tenders is 9.00am Eastern Caribbean Time on October 25, 2010. Any tender received after this deadline will not be considered.”

Source: Tender Notice/ European Commission

“The resource on St Lucia has proven reserves of 30 Megawatts and probable reserves of an additional 140 Megawatts,” said Stephen Baker, President and CEO of Qualibou. “In oil terms, the proven and probable reserves are 60.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), representing a very significant asset for Qualibou.

“Production drilling plans are underway and a drilling schedule will be announced in the near future. We plan to generate 120 Megawatts of power from this resource with the first phase being 15 Megawatts,” Mr. Baker added.

St Lucia, located in the Eastern Caribbean, is part of a volcanic arc known as the Lesser Antilles. Surface manifestations of geothermal activity are centered in the Sulphur Springs area and include hot springs, steam fumaroles and boiling mud pools. The resource has been extensively explored since the mid 1970′s and nine wells have been drilled to date. Steam was found in five of the exploratory boreholes with one of the deeper wells returning steam and water at 235 degrees Celsius, creating ideal conditions for electricity generation.

Qualibou Energy Inc. is an emerging renewable energy company with a growth strategy emphasizing greenfield developments. The company’s first geothermal concession is located on St Lucia. Qualibou acquired the project through its reverse acquisition of UNEC Holdings, Inc.”

Source: Company announcement via Marketwatch

Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Power Ltd. Kerry McDonald McDonald was at the time updating the status of the geothermal project in an interview with the Department of Information. Kerry had informed in an earlier press release, that financing for the US$43million project had been secured from Scotia Bank with a guarantee from the Export Import Bank of the United States.

“I know everybody feels that it has been a long time coming but in fact we are moving in the industry at what’s considered lightening speed in getting this. Come next year, in the first half of 2011, the island will be powered by geothermal power.

“If St Kitts signs their agreements, there will be continuing employment for construction of the power plants necessary to supply St Kitts also,” he said.

According to McDonald, equipment was being purchased for the geothermal power plants and a team was at the moment in the United States to evaluate the various drill rigs necessary for the next stage of drilling. Their recommendations were expected by the end of April.

He said based on the recommendation, down payments will be made on the drill rigs then they would be shipped to Nevis. Drilling is slated to commence in the latter part of June.

According to McDonald, drilling would include a test hole called an injection well at the base of Round Hill. Its purpose would be to test the site to ensure it was a suitable area that water from the geothermal power plant could be returned to the geothermal system, at a safe distance without cooling down the system.

Chief Operations Officer of West Indies Power Ltd. Bobby Tinsley, tests steam temperatures a from vent at Spring Hill on Nevis, the proposed site of the 10megawat geothermal power plant. “The re injection well that we are talking about will go down between 6,000-7,000 feet. It is made so that it is basically at the same level as the geothermal system that is feeding the solution. So it is again following the same fractures that already exist.

“We are not making any new fracture paths or anything else, not like what we call the EGS System where they have to go in and fracture which causes earthquakes. This is following the same fracture paths and that is why it is important that we do the test first to say yes, this is an area that will be able to take that water and send it back into the zone we want it to go back to,” he said.

The WIP Official explained that the engineering for the plant which was being carried out in California was near completion and the first draft of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the plant was expected by mid May.

With regard to the promise of jobs for local workers, Kerry noted that screening was expected to take place in June just before drilling commenced.

“The first part of June is when we will start drilling. We will be looking for people to work on the drills at that time. The contractor who will be in charge of the construction will be on island and will be looking at the skills and the people that are here. We estimate that basically they will end up employing somewhere between 30 and 40 people from the island,” he said.

Other highly skilled labour, the CEO explained, would most likely be imported from outside the Caribbean, since that expertise was virtually non-existent in the region. However, the general contracting would come from Nevis.

Both the 10 megawatt power plant and the power plant planned for St Kitts which WIP hoped would follow on quickly will all be located at Spring Hill, at the top of Westbury road.

McDonald explained that the earlier exploration holes that had been dug to obtain information on the resource and to conduct flow tests would eventually be plugged and abandoned. However, the experimental hole at Nevis 3 in Hamilton would be flowed a few more times before it too was abandoned.”

Source: Caribbean Net News

Pursuant to the mandate, Scotiabank will first finance, approximately USD$30 million, for a 10 MW geothermal power plant on Nevis. This plant will provide power to the Nevis Electricity Company (NEVLEC) in the first half of 2011 for the people of Nevis

Once a Power Purchase Agreement and other required documents are signed by the St Kitts Government, Scotiabank will arrange financing for an additional 30MW geothermal power plant which will supply low cost, renewable energy to the St Kitts Electricity Department, via a submarine cable from Nevis, for the people of St Kitts.

Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP stated, “ WIP is very pleased to have Scotiabank, one of the leading banks in the Caribbean region, and EXIM providing financing for the first geothermal plant in the Eastern Caribbean and we look forward to a continuing relationship with them on our future plants”.

West Indies Power (WIP) is an independent power producer specializing in the development of geothermal energy in the Caribbean with geothermal development projects on Nevis/St. Kitts, Dominica, Saba and other Caribbean islands.”

Source: Caribbean Net News

Minister of Natural Resources and Public Utilities on Nevis Hon. Carlisle Powell made the disclosure in an interview with the Department of Information on Thursday.

He said geothermal Developers West Indies Power Ltd. would deliver the harnessed power to the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. (NEVLEC), from the 10megawatt plant at Spring Hill via an interconnection point on property which will be leased to the company.

“NEVLEC will have to take the power from that point to the main distribution point at the Prospect Power Station. It then means that we are going to have to develop a transmission line so that we will be able to move the electricity from Spring Hill to Prospect and that transmission line will be to transmit 33,000 volts of power.

“So that money which we are sourcing for NEVLEC would be first of all to receive the power at 11,000volts to make sure that we transform that power from the substation up to 33,000 volts that we take it all the way from Spring Hill to Prospect and then we reconnect it to 11,000volts to the distribution point, so that we can now send that to the homes of the people. That is not going to be a cheap venture, it is probably going to cost in the region of $8.5million and so that is what we are proceeding to do,” the Minister explained.

He said though West Indies Power Ltd. had to source their own funding to develop the project, did not mean that the NIA and NEVLEC in particular would not have to secure any funding.

Minister Powell said they had already developed a fairly reasonable costing of the project for the government and funding agencies that were able to lend the funds had been approached.

A group visit to the Spring Hill drill site (file photo), where the first geothermal plant will be located
“We had some extremely good discussions with the US Export Import Bank. These discussions were held in Washington late in February and were attended on the government side by myself, my Permanent Secretary Ernie Stapleton and General Manager of NEVLEC Mr Cartwright Farrell.

“We also had discussions with the Scotia Bank Group in Washington as well and so we were requested to do a number of things which we are in the process of doing some of which we have completed and we are positive that moving forward we will be able to meet our part of the bargain,” he said.

With regard to the status of the geothermal project Mr Powell noted that the NIA had held recent meetings with West Indies Power Ltd. and had received the assurance from the company’s chief financial controller that all the funding required to set up the10 megawatt plant had been secured and they would be able to supply Nevis with the geothermal power which the NIA promised the people.”

For the full article see link below.

Source: ZIZ online

The disclosure came from Carlisle Powell, Minister responsible for Natural Resources and Public Utilities on Nevis, during an interview with the Department of Information on Thursday.

“The West Indies Power Ltd. made a request of the government in terms of an extension in time. We fully understand and appreciate the fact that because they had their challenges with respect to getting the finances in place as quickly as they thought they would be able to do, that they would not be able to make the December deadline.

“It is a reasonable request and we have given them an extension which will take us through to the end of June in 2011. It is a reasonable request it was well supported by facts and we saw absolutely no reason not to grant them an extension and that has been done and so we are working now with a new timeline,” he said.

However, Powell noted that there was a new timeline given for the project.

“There is a new schedule which has been provided to the government which shows all aspects from mobilisation to the drill rig being present on Nevis and so on…I can say to you according to what has been presented to us we are still on schedule with respect to June of 2011,” he said.

The Minister further explained, when the initial contract was signed in April 2009, no one had envisaged the full extent of the global financial meltdown which affected business worldwide.

West Indies Power Ltd. he said was not exempted from the effects of the financial meltdown and as a result had suffered some challenges with respect to moving the project forward and receiving the assurances that the funding would be in place.

“I think people have to recognise that people who have financial means don’t just sit on their money but they invest their money. That money is reinvested and so in the global financial meltdown, there are individuals and companies who lost millions and billions…

“So some billionaires have been reduced to millionaires and this has affected people and companies globally and West Indies Power Ltd and their financiers were not exempt,” he said.

The contract between the NIA and West Indies Power Ltd and the Power Purchase Agreement between the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. (NEVLEC) and West Indies Power Ltd. were signed on the 20th of April 2009.”

Source: Caribbean Net News

Comprehensive geological, geochemical and geophysical and related environmental and feasibility studies have revealed that the Commonwealth of Dominica, situated between the two French Departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, has the largest geothermal potential in the Caribbean.

This information was revealed by Geologist, Mr. Herve Traineau of CFG Services (Subsidiary of BRGM) at a Project Steering Committee Meeting of the Interreg IIIB financed component of the project entitled: “Preparation of a Geothermal-based Cross-Border Electrical Interconnection in the Caribbean” in Roseau recently. Work on this component of the geothermal energy project in the Wotten Waven resource area started in April, 2008 and was completed in November, 2008.

In presenting the results of his findings, Mr. Traineau revealed the following:

• With so many volcanoes, Dominica is considered the island in the Caribbean with the largest geothermal potential;
• The Morne Micotrin larva dome represents the heat source of the Wotten Waven geothermal reservoir;
• An important interesting area for a large geothermal project in Wotten Waven is an area south of the Micotrin larva dome;
• This area could site a small to large capacity geothermal power plant;
• Nine sites in the Wotten Waven area have been identified for the construction of wells;
• Various options are on the table for the construction of four large capacity power plants (30 MW each) to two small 15MW power plants.

In giving a time-frame of what could happen next, Mr. Traneau explained that exploratory drilling could begin in 2010. Further, the construction of production wells could start by the end of 2011 with a small 2 MW plant and a medium sized 15 MW plant “coming on line by 2013”.

It is also anticipated that a 30 MW capacity plant could be ready by 2014 and a second 30 MW capacity plant by 2017.

The preliminary figures on the production and investment costs suggests a cost of some US$95 million for the small project with the big project, including the cost of transmitting electricity via submarine cable to Martinique and Guadeloupe costing in excess of US$400 million.

The results and recommendations coming out of this preliminary phase is expected to help inform the next phase of the project- Preparation of a Geothermal-based Cross-Border Electrical Interconnection in the Caribbean”. This phase is being financed by the European Union with support from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Fond Francais pour L’ Environment Mondial (FFEM) to the tune of 5 Million EUROS.

Activities under this phase of the project will involve the drilling of exploratory wells to characterise the resource and undertaking studies to determine the financial, technical and environmental feasibility of the project, including the preparation of an investment prospectus to secure the long-term viability of the investment required currently estimated at approximately US$400 million.

The Government of Dominica has established the Project Management Unit (PMU), which will manage the next phase of the exploration and development of the Wotten Waven geothermal energy resource. The PMU will become operational later this month. It will be situated in the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Ports, Government Headquarters, Roseau.

Addresses at the Project Steering Committee meeting also came from Jean-Marc Mompelat, from the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, Dr. Philip Laplaige from the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and Mr. Lucien Blackmoore, Permanent Secretary, who spoke on behalf of the Minister for Public Utilities, Energy and Ports, Hon. Charles Savarin.”

Source: Dominica Central