A Bill to authorize the government to secure a loan to assist in financing the development of Geothermal Energy here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was passed in Parliament on Tuesday April 5th 2016.
The loan from the Abu Dhabi fund for Development, amounting to 15 million US dollars, will go toward the government’s Geothermal Energy project.
In presenting the Bill in Parliament, Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves explained that a lot of work has already been done in relation to the geothermal energy project and he outlined some of the works that are planned to be carried out this year.
Dr. Gonsalves said the Geothermal Plant is scheduled to be constructed between March, 2018 and April, 2019, and added that the plan is to have about 10 megawatts of geothermal capacity installed in the first instance.
According to Dr. Gonsalves, the development of Geothermal Energy is expect to provide this country with a reliable supply of energy, savings of foreign exchange and cheaper energy over the medium term, as well as enhanced wealth creation.
Members of the Parliamentary Opposition were again absent from today’s meeting of Parliament.
Parliament has been adjourned until Thursday May 12th.
