Potential bidders surface for Dominica geothermal project call

About two dozen groups have expressed interest in building the transmission infrastructure for a 10MW geothermal project on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

The companies that attended a recent information meeting held by Dominica Geothermal Development (DGD) included Ace Engineering, DMR Engineering, Edemsa, Getcol, JEPCC, Kalpataru Projects, Leecorp, Omexcon, Powerchina, Prism Power Group, Sotradom, SCE Engineering, Sofreco, Vinci Energies and Transrail Lighting.

The World Bank-financed contract is for substations Trafalgar (2.2/33kV), Padu (33/11kV), Fond Cole (69/33/11kV) and Laudat (11kV), and associated lines.

The winner will have 90 days to submit detailed designs, 18 months for partial completion and 30 months for overall completion.

The call for bids was issued in November and the deadline was extended to January 26.

Dominica aims to achieve 100% electricity generation from renewables by 2030, primarily based on existing hydro and new geothermal sources. Current generation capacity comprises 20.1MW diesel and 6.6MW hydro.