{"id":2441,"date":"2024-05-10T09:07:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T09:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdgnews.com\/?p=2441"},"modified":"2024-05-10T09:07:24","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T09:07:24","slug":"could-the-answer-to-100-renewable-energy-in-dominica-be-under-the-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdgnews.com\/ar\/could-the-answer-to-100-renewable-energy-in-dominica-be-under-the-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Could the answer to 100% renewable energy in Dominica be under the ground?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A small but growing number of countries are well on their way to producing all of their electricity from renewable energy. Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean, is planning to join these pioneers and become the first small island developing State (SIDS) to stop using fossil fuels for energy generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s called geothermal energy, and it\u2019s an exciting prospect for the country. Geothermal has none of the intermittency issues of wind and solar \u2013 in other words, it provides stable energy day and night \u2013 and doesn\u2019t take up any surface real estate, keeping the Roseau Valley in its pristine state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most SIDS are dependent on imported fossil fuels for electricity generation and transport, putting a major strain on their resources and jeopardising their energy security by exposing them to the vagaries of the international fuel markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominica, however, has a powerful clean power source lying in wait below the Roseau Valley, a popular tourist destination a short drive from the capital, Roseau, that is clean, completely renewable and could provide so much energy that the government could even sell excess electricity to neighbouring islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high pressure project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pipes are drilled deep underground until they hit a \u201cgeothermal reservoir\u201d, an accumulation of water warmed by the Earth\u2019s subterranean heat to approximately 250\u00b0 Celsius. Because Dominica lies atop a volcanic ridge, this heat is relatively close to the surface. When the pipes reach the reservoir, the high pressure drives it to the surface, where it is converted to steam to drive turbines that produce electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found an excellent geothermal reservoir in Roseau Valley, around a thousand metres down,\u201d<\/em> said Fred John, the head of the government-owned Dominica Geothermal Development Corporation. \u201cWe\u2019ve built two wells \u2013 one to bring up the hot water and another to return it back down to the reservoir \u2013 so it\u2019s a closed loop system. We have chosen the technology that is the most environmentally friendly and best in class.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government of Dominica has been convinced for decades that geothermal could be transformative for livelihoods, slashing the cost of electricity in a country which is currently reliant primarily on expensive imported diesel as a power source and supplemented by hydropower and a small amount of wind and solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UNDP\/ Zaimis Olmos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site of Dominica’s geothermal energy plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t

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