Dominica becomes 1st Caribbean nation to place geothermal energy on its national grid

Dominica has become the first nation in the Caribbean to bring geothermal energy onto its national grid. The development was announced by Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit during a recent press conference held on Wednesday.

“Dominica is the first nation in this region to bring geothermal energy onto its national grid, and being first means we are walking a path no one before us has walked,” Prime minister, Dr. Skerrit announced.

He highlighted that the geothermal power plant is currently in the commissioning phase where testing, adjustments and system integration work are going on before the plant enters full commercial operations. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit added that he does not minimise the inconvenience the power outages have caused islandwide but he asked people to understand the situation as the recent weeks and difficult times are the cost of something new.

He further reassured the people that when the work is complete, the electricity cost will decrease and Dominica will be self reliant as it won’t have to depend upon imported fuel.

“But I ask for our people’s understanding as the teething difficulties of these recent weeks are the cost of doing something new. But when this work is complete, we will have lower electricity costs, greater reliability, and a Dominica that is no longer at the mercy of imported fuel,” Skerrit said.

He mentioned since generation began in March, some technical issues have interrupted with services associated with testing and integrating new infrastructure.

Skerrit said that these issues are being identified and resolved under the commissioning process.

“The good news is that these issues are being identified, addressed and resolved as part of the commissioning process,” he said.

Skerrit added that commissioning is also underway for the associated substation, the 33 kV underground transmission line, the Fond Cole Substation, and the Fond Cole Battery Energy Storage System, all of which must operate seamlessly as an integrated power system.

Skerrit emphasised, “Government remains confident in the project and its long-term benefits. While we acknowledge the inconvenience caused by recent outages, commissioning a project of this scale requires rigorous testing to ensure that when the plant enters commercial operation, it does so safely, reliably and efficiently.”

The 10-megawatt (MW) geothermal power plant in the Roseau Valley, Dominica costs an estimated value of US$68.3 million.

These include US$34.8 million from the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and US$15 million from the Caribbean Development Fund (CDF).

Additional funding has been acquired by the UK government, the government of New Zealand, and SIDS DOCK.