CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – The Organisation of Jap Caribbean States (OECS) Fee says it has accomplished a landmark research tour and technical workshop in Guadeloupe, marking “a big step ahead in strengthening the area’s capability and collaboration for sustainable geothermal power improvement”.
The occasion acknowledged that it introduced collectively technical officers, mission coordinators, and authorities and neighborhood representatives from OECS member states to achieve firsthand insights from Guadeloupe’s operational Bouillante geothermal plant and its sturdy native governance framework.
The research tour of Guadeloupe was held underneath the OECS Geothermal Vitality Capability Constructing for Utilisation, Funding and Native Improvement (OECS GEOBUILD), a programme aimed toward unlocking the geothermal power potential in 5 OECS member states, specifically Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The programme goals to ship financial and environmental advantages past electrical energy technology, thereby contributing to the sustainable improvement of the area. It’s supported by the Caribbean Improvement Financial institution (CDB), the European Union Caribbean Funding Facility (CIF), and the Inter-American Improvement Financial institution (IDB).
The OECS GEOBUILD crew additionally met with Ywenn De La Torre, Regional Director of the French Geological Survey (BRGM), to discover future partnerships in analysis, technical advisory companies, and capacity-building.
The Fee stated that this partnership is predicted to help the rising Caribbean Geothermal Centre of Excellence, additional enhancing regional experience and innovation.
It acknowledged that sooner or later, the next steps will embrace enhancing technical and institutional capability for geothermal mission planning, administration, and neighborhood engagement, in addition to adopting greatest practices in environmental and regulatory frameworks, drawing on Guadeloupe’s expertise.
The Fee can be hoping for strengthened regional partnerships and dedication to steady coaching, information trade, and suggestions for nationwide and regional communication methods to construct public help and demystify geothermal power.
The tour and workshop centered on capability constructing, information switch, and fostering regional partnerships to speed up geothermal tasks throughout the Jap Caribbean.
A press release from the St. Lucia-based OECS Fee famous that members engaged straight with plant operators, regulatory authorities, and authorities leaders, studying about Guadeloupe’s journey from early exploration within the Sixties to its present standing because the Caribbean’s first operational geothermal facility since 1986.
The Bouillante plant now provides between six and 7 per cent of Guadeloupe’s electrical energy, with growth plans underway to extend capability to twenty MW by 2026.
The research tour was carried out underneath the theme: “From the Floor Up: Strengthening Capability and Group Engagement for Sustainable Geothermal Improvement within the OECS”.
The Fee stated {that a} workshop in Guadeloupe featured displays on regulatory frameworks, environmental safeguards, and neighborhood engagement, with updates from Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines on their respective geothermal tasks.
“These exchanges supplied sensible instruments and peer studying alternatives, serving to member states deal with technical, regulatory, and social challenges distinctive to geothermal improvement,” the Fee stated.
Sylvie Vanoukia, President of the Vitality Fee of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe and consultant to the OECS Council of Ministers, emphasised the significance of regional collaboration within the pursuit of geothermal energy.
“This workshop is a big second, one the place the voices of island territories intersect, hear to one another and mutually power, as a result of what we’ve got in widespread past our Caribbean identification are the challenges by way of power, main challenges that we’re dealing with, challenges that require imaginative and prescient, political willingness and strengthen cooperation between our states and areas.”
Grenada’s Minister for Local weather Resilience, the Atmosphere, and Renewable Vitality, Kerryne James, additionally highlighted the regional significance in a recorded message to the workshop.
“None of this may be occurring with out the definitive management of Guadeloupe in pioneering geothermal power improvement within the Caribbean. The Bouillante facility stands as a singular instance in our area of a functioning geothermal energy plant.
“This research tour is a part of a regional studying course of. Grenada is behind a few of our OECS neighbours within the supply of geothermal power, however we’re decided to be taught and to guide the place we are able to. We imagine {that a} profitable path to geothermal improvement in our area should be paved with open engagement, evidence-based planning, and mutual help.”
Dominica is on monitor to affix Guadeloupe because the second geothermal power producer within the OECS and the primary in CARICOM with the completion of a 10MW plant at Laudat within the Roseau Valley by the top of this yr.
Grenada plans to open its geothermal sources to exploration by 2026.
The mission supervisor of the OECS GEOBUILD Programme, Dr. Ernie Stapleton, acknowledged that the Bouillante expertise underscored the essential position of native management and neighborhood engagement in creating and sustaining profitable geothermal initiatives.
“The Bouillante geothermal plant stands as a beacon of what’s potential when technical excellence meets neighborhood partnership. By way of your shared experiences…notably across the historical past of geothermal improvement right here, the tangible advantages to the neighborhood, and the precious classes discovered, you’re equipping our member states not simply with data, however with inspiration.”
