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Dominica planning geothermal power plant by 2013

Alexander Richter 12 Nov 2009

Dominica revealed that it could be supplying Guadeloupe and Martinique with Geothermal energy by the year 2013 with the government willing to provide the necessary support and incentives.

In a local paper, “Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has revealed that Dominica could be supplying Guadeloupe and Martinique with Geothermal energy by the year 2013. According to the prime minister, government will provide the necessary support and incentives to investors so that a geothermal plant can be operational by that time.

He said that following two years of detailed study, a geologist has identified sources of groundwater that can be replenished. According to him, these sources are capable of supplying in excess of twenty million gallons per day.

“The investment required for profitable exploitation of this resource will allow us to sell electricity to Guadeloupe and Martinique via submarine cable,” he stated.

Meanwhile, he explained that the tapping of this resource would complement the supply in Water Area One, which includes Roseau.

“Its successful execution will mitigate the lockdown of the system that accompanies heavy rainfall, due to turbidity of the surface water currently supplying the system.”

However, in addition to an income generating geothermal plant, the prime minister has revealed that other significant economic opportunities are on the horizon. He announced that a group of Hong Kong businessmen will arrive in Dominica in January of 2010 with a view to establishing an enterprise that would source and package millions of gallons of Dominican water for export to Asia. According to him, this enterprise would utilize the very ships that bring food, clothing and other consumer items from Asian countries. Such a venture, he explained, would bring immense exposure to Dominica on the world markets.

“They have been on our development agenda for some time, and we are now beginning to clearly see a way forward. I refer to geothermal energy and water,” he concluded.”

Source: Dominica News Online