By the Caribbean Journal staff

There is a “strong likelihood” that Dominica will have an operational geothermal plant in the country by 2014, according to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

The government is reportedly in talks with firms in geothermal and power-generation about partnering with it on the construction and operation of the plant.

“There is a strong likelihood that the plant could be operational by 2014,” he said. “The general public will be informed further on this in the coming months.”

Bidding to select a company to construct the geothermal plant on the island will begin in the second half of 2013, according to the government.

It is part of a low-carbon strategy with an ultimate goal of a carbon-negative economy by 2020, the Prime Minister said.

“As a first step in implementing this policy, we have commenced the process of negotiation for building a 10 to 15-megawatt geothermal plant within two to three years,” he said.

Dominica currently relies on the importation and use of diesel for 70 percent of its electricity.

The government, joined by the European Union and the French Agency for Development recently undertook a drilling exercise in three wells in Laudat and Wotten Waven.