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CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Apr. 11, (CMC) – The St. Lucia Electricity Company (LUCELEC), today, said that it is encouraged by the results of a study on geothermal resources, which found that it exists outside the Sulphur Springs and the Piton Management Area (PMA) in Soufriere, along the west coast of the island.
“This is good news as earlier concerns about threats to the integrity of the PMA by this project will now be precluded,” LUCELEC said in a statement, noting that the final technical report on these surface exploration activities will be discussed at a series of high level geothermal meetings beginning here, tomorrow.
LUCELEC said that the meetings will be held with the proposed geothermal developer to reach consensus on a “term sheet towards the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and a term sheet between Government and the geothermal developer to reach consensus on a Geothermal Development Agreement (GDA)”.
The company, which is the sole provider of electricity here, said the meeting will further advance the Geothermal Resource Development Project (GDP).
“The development of the geothermal resource is in keeping with the government’s policy objective of reducing St. Lucia’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation,” it said, adding that in 2014, St. Lucia committed to achieving a national target of meeting 35 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable sources by the year 2020.
The government says developing the island’s geothermal resource is a key strategy and a practicable way to meet this sustainable energy target.
As a result, Castries was able to obtained financial assistance and technical support from a number of development partners to advance efforts towards the development of the country’s geothermal resource.
The World Bank assisted St. Lucia in accessing approximately two million US dollars from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the SIDS DOCK Support Programme for the Geothermal Resource Development Project.
New Zealand is providing technical assistance estimated at US$800,000 while the Clinton Climate Initiative is providing half a million US dollars.
The government has also secured the services of a consultant to assist with the ongoing negotiations with a qualified geothermal developer, to invest in the geothermal wells, the steam gathering system and the geothermal power plant.
In addition, government is in the process of securing the services of consultants, who will carry out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) including public consultations, as well as a pre-feasibility assessment to decide whether to proceed with the exploratory drilling stage, LUCLEC said in the statement.
It said that it is expected that this phase of the GDP should be completed by the first quarter of 2017, with a view to commencing exploratory drilling in a new resource development area by 2018.
