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The ongoing geothermal energy development project on Nevis, being implemented by West Indies Power (Nevis) Ltd, achieved yet another milestone this month when the Nevis 3 well, located at Hamilton Estates, roared to life and confirmed the existence of huge reserves of geothermal energy on the 36 square mile (93 sq km) island of Nevis.
Following the October 16th event, Kerry McDonald, CEO of WIP Nevis Ltd advised that the finding confirmed the existence of a continuous geothermal reservoir between Nevis 1 well, located at Spring Hill, and Nevis 3 well, some 2.5 miles away. He cited the discovery as confirmation that the geothermal reservoir “contains several hundred MegaWatts [MW] of geothermal production capacity.”
Steam was reached at a well depth of 2950 ft (900m) and had a temperature of 395F (202C) and a wellhead pressure of 200 psi (13.8 bar.) Following the discovery, technicians were expected to flow the well for several days to obtain the chemistry of the geothermal steam coming from the well, in order to determine critical design information for the specification of the geothermal power plant that will utilize the steam to produce electricity on Nevis.
The construction of the geothermal power plant had initially been scheduled to commence in October 2008 but according to McDonald was delayed due to the tight supply of steel worldwide. McDonald however advised that the major drilling equipment for the generation side of the project was now expected on Nevis in November or December and he confirmed that the delay would not affect the projected time for first power generation, scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.
In related news, earlier in the month, representatives of submarine cable supplier Nexans Norway had visited Nevis and met with officials from WIP, the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd (NEVLEC), the St Kitts Electricity Department and a delegation from Anguilla. At this meeting the Nexans officials expressed their keen interest and confidence in the project and its ability to supply power to neighbouring islands via submarine cable.
The aggregate peak electricity demand of the entire OECS is about 250 MW.
WIP (Nevis) Ltd, an independent private renewable energy development company, is currently finalizing a financing structure for the construction of the English-speaking Caribbean’s first geothermal power plant, a 35 MW (2 x 17 MW) single-flash turbine design.
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