by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service
Hot springs at Wotten Waven
A financing agreement has been signed by the Government of Dominica with the Agence Francaise De Development and Fonds Francais pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM) for the development of the geothermal resource in Wotten Waven. In January 2008, the Government of Dominica signed an agreement with the European Union which committed an amount of 1.5 million Euros towards a geothermal energy development programme.
According to Mr. Vincent Philbert, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Ports said that this step goes a step beyond feasibility study stage into laying a framework from which interested persons and enterprises can build upon.
Mr. Vincent Philbert,
Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Public Utilities,
Energy and Ports
“The outcome of this will be to ensure that beyond the feasibility stage that we are at now, the research stage, into proving the resource. We will go into drilling early in the New Year from the preliminary indications we have had which will ultimately lead to prospectuses for commercialising the project, that is, to invite persons and enterprises interested in investigating further and developing the geothermal energy potential into electricity generation and the full project will go ahead into an anticipated three (3) year period.”
National Authorising Officer of the European Development Fund, Edward Lambert, believes the signing of the agreement on Friday will reduce the impact of the increasing cost of fossil fuels and bring further development to the island’s economy. He went on to say that exercise is all part of
Government’s plan to achieve a minimum three percent (3%) sustainable economic growth.
National Authorising Officer,
Edward Lambert
“When one looks at the economic growth of a country, one can make a direct correlation between the availability and cost of energy and economic growth. Therefore, this particular exercise fits into Government’s strategy to achieve a minimum three percent (3%) sustainable economic growth. There has been a diversity of views as to how a project of this nature should be implemented. We have adopted an approach that utilises best practice in exploration of geothermal resources.” |
