Above: one of Montserrat’s geothermal wells

By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s too early to say so with confidence, but early signs from Montserrat’s geothermal project are “very encouraging,” the government said this week.

The new geothermal well finally started flowing to the surface late last week, and continued the next day.

“The intention is to let it continue to flow for a few days to monitor temperature and pressure,” the government said in a release. “It is still too early to confidently say that we have a commercially viable well however the signs are very encouraging.”

Next, the plans are to carry out long-term testing of the site, which will take several weeks and determine the chemical composition of the geothermal fluids, along with the temperature and pressure from the well.

The results of these tests will “inform the design of the most cost-effective generation plant for our location,” the government said.

Montserrat’s drilling operations will reportedly conclude within the next two weeks.