From The Montserrat Reporter -
Wait for Geothermal News – quiet meantime!
Posted on 11 October 2013.
but production next phase talk
by Bennette Roach
In The Montserrat Reporter issue of August 30, 2013, “Geothermal Resource best news”, in which we reported that, “Beardsley, in a statement dated Thursday (August 29th) revealed, “This well finally started flowing to the surface yesterday. It continued to flow overnight and everything is looking very positive”, we had been waiting and seeking update on the progress of the testing.
Ron Beardsley, Public Works Director, who was permitted to give an update then had said, “It is still too early to confidently say that we have a commercially viable well.” However, he added, “the signs are very encouraging.”
The Director is also a member of the Geothermal Unit had also advised that the intention is, “to let it continue to flow for a few days to monitor temperature and pressure.”
All this was at the end of drilling of the second Well (Well #2). In a
statement Beardsley had explained that the next step will be to carry
out specialist long-term testing. He said this will be carried out over
several weeks and will determine the chemical composition of the
geothermal fluids, as well as the temperature and pressure from the
resource. This critical data will inform the design of the most
cost-effective generation plant for our location. It will also give an
estimate of the long term capacity of the resource. The long term
testing will be carried out over the next couple of months.
On September 10, at Governor Davis’ most recent press conference Dr. Kato Kimbugwe reported when asked for the short-term update said: “I am up to date with it and I think what I can say at the moment and again just being cautious and conservative is that we need to wait for all the test to be finalized.”
He said that said morning he was advised the tests will be completed, “by the end of October.” He referred to the short term testing on which we were seeking information doesn’t give as much information. “…because the testing period, you have the initial ten day test but that doesn’t give you as much information about the whole characteristics, until you’ve done the more longer term test which tells you the size of the resource and how much power can be produced.”
The DFID private sector expert, then suggested, “I think it’s proper for us to be a little bit more patient and wait until the experts in the field,” remarking that he is, ‘not an expert (geothermal),’ who can then come back and tell us we’ve crunched our numbers, we’ve looked at the evidence and based on what we’ve seen this is the output on well number 1 and this is what is happening.”
Finally, “I’m not engaging in any sort of discussion on what the results are because I don’t have anything in writing that tells me that this is the evidence,” he said.
Following this the Governor intervened to inform, “Kato knows about this allot, because he has been asked by the DFID Minister in particular to give regular progress reports on geothermal.
At that juncture, Kimbugwe further advised that on Well #2, “they have gone ahead and they are doing some additional drilling to get to three thousand (3,000) meters,” which should have been completed by the end of that week. Dr. Kimbugwe had even hinted that it might be closer to Christmas before final progress could be reported.
There has little or nothing reported since that report and it has been difficult to get information as to the progress. Sources have said that the drilling equipment has left the island reportedly for Dominica from whence it came initially.
In the meantime while Premier Meade has been recounting the successes of the four years his MCAP government has had he has more to count on the future development of the island. One of these is geothermal energy production which he and DFID and some have come to believe will be a game changer for Montserrat.
His latest pronouncement came at a weekly ‘government and people’ program on ZJB radio where he hosted ag. Station Manager James White Jr. and editor Bennette Roach.
HMG has been saying that when the next phase of the geothermal development becomes available, they would seek private investor interest and the Montserrat Geothermal Power Co. (MGPC) has for some time expressed an interest to, “on behalf of the people of Montserrat provide a bid for the geothermal power complex in response to an Expression of Interest (EoI) or any other legally authorised tender.”
MGPC in a statement followed by a press conference on June 28, 2013, announced that it is a company, “set up with the EXPRESS purpose of enabling all the peoples of Montserrat to become shareholders in the single most important development to take place in living memory.”
But Premier, the Hon. Reuben T Meade says he has taken a decision to ensure in the initial stages that the geothermal project would be public enterprise for and on behalf of the people of the Emerald Isle.
He said, “What we are saying and the stance which we are taking with the DFID minister in the UK, let us spend the money and develop that as a national resource. Let’s not get the foreign investor involved. Let government deal with it with MUL and therefore the savings and the benefits will then come to government and the people of Montserrat.”
The Premier espoused, hinting perhaps the exclusion of MGPC, “…the profits which have been taken by the foreign investor or the private investor that will then come to government as a nontax revenue…so you are sharing the savings with the consumer and government gets additional revenue which it can use for other services.”
The Premier concluded his discussion on the production of geothermal. “We are not having discussions with any private sector, at least not at this stage,” he said. He then noted, ”perhaps after we learn the technology sufficiently, and we wish to do further explorations, then clearly we’ll have to find the means of raising that additional capital, but for the time being we want to go the full generation for the supply of electricity.”
by Bennette Roach
In The Montserrat Reporter issue of August 30, 2013, “Geothermal Resource best news”, in which we reported that, “Beardsley, in a statement dated Thursday (August 29th) revealed, “This well finally started flowing to the surface yesterday. It continued to flow overnight and everything is looking very positive”, we had been waiting and seeking update on the progress of the testing.
Ron Beardsley, Public Works Director, who was permitted to give an update then had said, “It is still too early to confidently say that we have a commercially viable well.” However, he added, “the signs are very encouraging.”
The Director is also a member of the Geothermal Unit had also advised that the intention is, “to let it continue to flow for a few days to monitor temperature and pressure.”
No news since the coaxed steaming in test phase
On September 10, at Governor Davis’ most recent press conference Dr. Kato Kimbugwe reported when asked for the short-term update said: “I am up to date with it and I think what I can say at the moment and again just being cautious and conservative is that we need to wait for all the test to be finalized.”
He said that said morning he was advised the tests will be completed, “by the end of October.” He referred to the short term testing on which we were seeking information doesn’t give as much information. “…because the testing period, you have the initial ten day test but that doesn’t give you as much information about the whole characteristics, until you’ve done the more longer term test which tells you the size of the resource and how much power can be produced.”
The DFID private sector expert, then suggested, “I think it’s proper for us to be a little bit more patient and wait until the experts in the field,” remarking that he is, ‘not an expert (geothermal),’ who can then come back and tell us we’ve crunched our numbers, we’ve looked at the evidence and based on what we’ve seen this is the output on well number 1 and this is what is happening.”
Finally, “I’m not engaging in any sort of discussion on what the results are because I don’t have anything in writing that tells me that this is the evidence,” he said.
Following this the Governor intervened to inform, “Kato knows about this allot, because he has been asked by the DFID Minister in particular to give regular progress reports on geothermal.
At that juncture, Kimbugwe further advised that on Well #2, “they have gone ahead and they are doing some additional drilling to get to three thousand (3,000) meters,” which should have been completed by the end of that week. Dr. Kimbugwe had even hinted that it might be closer to Christmas before final progress could be reported.
There has little or nothing reported since that report and it has been difficult to get information as to the progress. Sources have said that the drilling equipment has left the island reportedly for Dominica from whence it came initially.
In the meantime while Premier Meade has been recounting the successes of the four years his MCAP government has had he has more to count on the future development of the island. One of these is geothermal energy production which he and DFID and some have come to believe will be a game changer for Montserrat.
His latest pronouncement came at a weekly ‘government and people’ program on ZJB radio where he hosted ag. Station Manager James White Jr. and editor Bennette Roach.
HMG has been saying that when the next phase of the geothermal development becomes available, they would seek private investor interest and the Montserrat Geothermal Power Co. (MGPC) has for some time expressed an interest to, “on behalf of the people of Montserrat provide a bid for the geothermal power complex in response to an Expression of Interest (EoI) or any other legally authorised tender.”
MGPC in a statement followed by a press conference on June 28, 2013, announced that it is a company, “set up with the EXPRESS purpose of enabling all the peoples of Montserrat to become shareholders in the single most important development to take place in living memory.”
But Premier, the Hon. Reuben T Meade says he has taken a decision to ensure in the initial stages that the geothermal project would be public enterprise for and on behalf of the people of the Emerald Isle.
He said, “What we are saying and the stance which we are taking with the DFID minister in the UK, let us spend the money and develop that as a national resource. Let’s not get the foreign investor involved. Let government deal with it with MUL and therefore the savings and the benefits will then come to government and the people of Montserrat.”
The Premier espoused, hinting perhaps the exclusion of MGPC, “…the profits which have been taken by the foreign investor or the private investor that will then come to government as a nontax revenue…so you are sharing the savings with the consumer and government gets additional revenue which it can use for other services.”
The Premier concluded his discussion on the production of geothermal. “We are not having discussions with any private sector, at least not at this stage,” he said. He then noted, ”perhaps after we learn the technology sufficiently, and we wish to do further explorations, then clearly we’ll have to find the means of raising that additional capital, but for the time being we want to go the full generation for the supply of electricity.”
http://www.themontserratreporter.com/wait-for-geothermal-news-quiet-meantime/
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