With Potential for 300MW of Geothermal Power, Fuel Surcharge Will Be History

Barbara 12th February, 2023

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Given that the geothermal plant being constructed in Laudat has the capacity to generate up to 300 megawatts of power, fuel surcharge may soon become history in Dominica. This fact was revealed by the Minister of Energy, Dr. Vince Henderson, while speaking to lawmakers over the weekend.

Henderson disclosed that once the government commits the required investment into the project, the fuel surcharge will be fully eliminated in the country. He said the geothermal plant will go online to serve the power needs of every citizen across Dominica.

We are standing on one of the largest reservoirs of geothermal power anywhere in the Eastern Caribbean. We have the potential of over 300 megawatts of power, so this little 150 we are talking about kilowatt-hour and so forth we can generate that ourselves. Yes, it’s a massive investment, but once we have made that investment we can totally eliminate fuel surcharge on our bills when we get geothermal fully online and that is what we are working on.
Dr. Vince Henderson, Minister of Energy

The energy minister also disclosed that signing the agreement for the construction of the power plant will soon take place. He thanked DOMLEC for bringing enough hydropower energy to drive down the cost of electricity in the country, noting that geothermal will become fully operational in Dominica in the next two years.

According to him, the Skerrit-led administration has already committed more than $20 million in the Roseau Valley and an additional $2.5 million to rehabilitate the Laudat road to facilitate drilling activities in the area. He added that in the next few months, a drilling rig will be brought in from Iceland Drilling while Ace Engineering has also been contracted to construct parts of the geothermal project. He stated that the World Bank will be providing some of the funds for the initiative.