Geothermal Plant allows Dominica to have access to cheaper energy: PM Skerrit

Roseau, Dominica: Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit emphasized on the benefits of the geothermal power plant and termed it the facility to get cheaper energy. Speaking at the parliament session, he said that the plant allows Dominica to have access to and benefit from cheaper energy which will further enhance opportunities.

Outlining the benefits of geothermal energy, PM Skerrit stated that there are many parts of Dominica that need electricity which is also used to power the water systems. The plant will assist the country in enhancing the energy sector and provide people with the proper source of power.

Talking about DOMLEC, he said that DOMLEC works for 24 by seven and it couldn’t get turned off as people will get water at their homes. So, the geothermal power plant project will benefit the citizens with cheaper source of energy and enhance the steps of the government of Dominica towards reducing the carbon footprints.

Prime Minister Skerrit stated that this is how the investment which was made by the government through the loan of $103 million in the geothermal project has been benefiting Dominica. He said,” So when you talk about what is the impact of investors, what would happen is that the majority shareholder, if you take a loan, would have to make a contribution commensurate with its investment capacity in there.”

He lauded the entire process of geothermal plant and said that they have been mindful of how they approach this. The prime minister added,” This is why we have always said we go after grant funding as we did in many instances. Using our local resources. And in fact, we have used, um, CBI funds into a geothermal plant.”

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit mentioned that they always felt that they needed to start the project, have energy and significantly, the majority of money that the government have spent on geothermal has gone to local companies.

He noted,” That when you get money from these international financial institutions, they have this procurement rules. The other pre-qualification requirements. So what local companies do sometimes in many of these projects that you think is all international companies have it is that there is a relationship. There is a relationship. And in most of these cases, what these international companies do is just send a few engineers down. But the bulk of the work are done by local people, by local companies.”