ESMAP Support Integral to World Bank’s First Investment in Geothermal in the Caribbean  

The World Bank has announced a US$27 million project to support the construction of a 7MW small geothermal power plant in the Commonwealth of Dominica—the World Bank’s first investment in geothermal in the Caribbean.

ESMAP’s SIDS DOCK helped to establish the building blocks for the geothermal market in Dominica. Capacity building efforts led to the approval of a Geothermal Law and a robust Power Purchase Agreement. SIDS DOCK support also helped establish benchmarks for the development of the Wotten Waven-Laudat field and identify key steps to meet industry best practices and international standards. The successful completion of the exploration and drilling, along with an ESMAP grant to assist with project preparation, led to the development of the Dominica Geothermal Risk Mitigation Project.

A portion of the project’s funds—US$10 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF)—is a direct result of ESMAP’s Global Geothermal Development Plan, which sought to dedicate funding for geothermal development. This will allow the government to undertake further drilling to support production and conduct a feasibility study to expand the plant’s capacity to 40–100 MW for future electricity exports to neighboring islands.

Read more about the Dominica Geothermal Risk Mitigation Project here.