RFI – Drilling of geothermal wells in Nevis Island, Caribbean
Nevis Volcano, Nevis & St. Kitts (source: flickr/ Stuck in Customs, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
12 Sep 2022
The Nevis Island Administration through the local electricity utility has issued a Request for Information for prospective drillers of a geothermal drilling campaign in the island.
Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC), the sole electricity utility of the Island of Nevis in the Caribbean, has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to help in identifying prospective bidders for a geothermal drilling campaign in the island. The purpose of the RFI is to assist in developing a tendering strategy but is NOT a pre-qualification or shortlisting exercise.
Responses to this RFI should be sent to geothermal@nevlec.com on or before 16:00 Nevis local time, September 20, 2022. At the same time, the submission should be sent to Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for information at seu@caribank.org. The official RFI document provides additional details on what should be indicated in the submission.
The Phase 1 (10 MWe) drilling campaign will involve the drilling of five geothermal wells – 1 vertical and 4 directional – to approximately 4500 to 5000 feet measured depth. The highest formation temperature expected is 290 degrees Celsius.
Phase 2 is also planned for a possible expansion of 30 MWe. This will involve drilling of four additional wells, planned to be spudded shortly after Phase 1 depending on drilling and well test results. Preliminary designs for the planned wells are indicated in the RFI document.
Preliminary calculations indicate that a rig with minimum pullback of 300,000 lbs. and minimum drawworks of 550 horsepower (hp) would be required. The first phase wells will be drilled on two pads (3 wells on one pad and 2 wells on the other pad), approximately 500 m apart, as the crow flies. Well pad sizes are expected to be in the order of 90 m x 60 m.
Technical support for the project is being financed by the CDB and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It is intended that financing for the implementation of the project will be provided under the Sustainable Energy Facility (SEF) Programme of the CDB’s GeoSmart Initiative with resources from the CDB and the IDB.
The purpose of this RFI is to identify interested bidders, and to assist in developing the tendering strategy for the supply of the Services, as described in the RFI document, to achieve a rapid and successful tendering process. A response to this RFI does not require the respondent to commit to bidding on the tender when released.
This is not a prequalification or shortlisting exercise, and the eventual procurement process shall be an open, competitive process, which will be open to all eligible bidders. The responses to this RFI will also inform decisions regarding country eligibility of prospective bidders.
The competitive tendering process is scheduled to start on October 3, 2022, with the release of tender documents, and conclude by the second week of December 2022, with the selection of the contractor(s). The drilling of the first well is anticipated to commence June 2023.
