Drilling Contract Signed For Geothermal Project On St. Vincent And The Grenadines

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, November 29, 2018 (CMC) — The St. Vincent Geothermal Company Limited (SVGCL) and the Icelandic Drilling Company (IDC) signed a contract, today, that will lead to drilling of four wells for a geothermal power project in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to IDC’s Chief Executive Officer, Sigurdur Sigurdsson, the wells are intended to supply steam for the geothermal power plant, to be constructed by SVGCL.

The project aims to deliver a 10-megawatt, geothermal power plant to the island, transforming its energy sector, reducing its dependency on imported diesel, and providing a new sustainable and affordable source of energy, based on an indigenous resource. 

IDC notes that once operational, the plant will supply substantially all of the country’s base-load power and bring renewable energy sources to 73 percent of total power generation, well in excess of SVG’s Energy Action Plan target of 60 percent by 2020.

The commissioning of the plant is expected to be in approximately two years. The development of the plant has been ongoing for some time, with civil works starting in 2018, and turbines are scheduled to be tendered out in 2019. 

SVGCL is a public-private partnership, owned by the government of St. Vincent and the grenadines and Reykjavik Geothermal, an Icelandic company, focusing on geothermal power development, with projects in East Africa, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Sigurdsson said this is the fifth drilling contract in the Caribbean, but Iceland Drilling has been working in the area, since 2011, both in Dominica and in Montserrat. The project is being supported by several international organizations, with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) being the lead financier.