Caribbean Montserrat inviting expressions of interest for geothermal development

Active volcano on the British overseas territory of Montserrat, Caribbean (source: flickr/ lara68, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 9 Feb 2012

The government of Montserrat, a Caribbean island state and British overseas territory, “is inviting expressions of interests for the development of geothermal resources in the island”, so recent news from the Caribbean.

“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