The World Bank has indicated that it will provide just over $17m in funding for a Dominican geothermal plant.
According to an article from Dominica News Online, the geothermal plant will produce 7 MW of power and will cost a total of US$40 million. The Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister, previously indicated that the rest of the funding will come from the government’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CBI).
An Operations Officer of the World Bank, Karlene Francis, has said that geothermal energy is consistent with the government’s plan of making Dominica the first climate-resilient country in the world. Francis was speaking at the launch of the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) earlier this month.
The plant is set to replace power generation from diesel plants and will bring down the cost of electricity within the country.
Francis also said that, ‘The bank is also working with the Dominica Geothermal Development Company to prepare a geothermal risk mitigation project’.
In 2017, the country suffered massive and widespread destruction during Hurricane Maria, which compromised much of the infrastructure on the island. Projects like these are essential to be resilient to the effects of climate change.