Dominica seeks to move in St. Lucia's direction but trails a couple of years in the planning process. This country with a population of just over 70,000 is renowned for its natural beauty as "the nature island of the Caribbean," and possesses the Central Caribbean's only Natural World Heritage Site - Morne Trois Pitons National Park. Dominica has one advantage over its Caribbean neighbors— over one third of its electricity comes from renewable sources, and in some years of hydroelectric abundance, use of this power source has exceeded fossil fuel electricity generation.

Despite hurdles and an economy hurt by the removal of preferential trade terms for bananas, a major export here as in St. Lucia, Prime Minister Pierre Charles is moving his country aggressively toward a clean energy path. He has the good fortune of being able to consider a range of clean energy options, including one with considerable export potential. There is potential for expansion of hydroelectric energy through micro-hydro projects. Furthermore, Dominica has large wind resources and may install wind turbines to provide a significant portion of its power.

GSEII Projects in Dominica

Energy Efficiency in DOMLEC Distribution System

Electricity distribution in Dominica is operated by the national power utility, Dominica Electricity Services Limited (DOMLEC). This project looks at interventions aimed to reduce energy and power losses in the DOMLEC distribution system. In 2001, energy losses exceeded 19%. In 2002, losses were 18.3% of gross generation, 18.6% of net generation, for a total wasted energy of 14,643 kWh. In a small electrical system like Dominica’s, transmission and distribution (T&D) losses should be in the 4-6% range.

Two major interventions are proposed: (1) efficiency improvements in the distribution system through power factor correction, transformer replacement and demand side management, and (2) construction of a 66 kV transmission line.

Activities targeted to improve energy efficiency of T&D systems can be qualified as a Small Scale CDM project as long as energy savings are less than 15 GWh (15,000,000 kWh) per year. This means that the Dominica T&D system upgrade could qualify as such.

Energy Efficiency Lighting Project

In March 2006, an energy efficient lighting project was initiated with the distribution of 200 fluorescent light bulbs in a local Dominican community. This was done with the cooperation of the University of Vermont and the UK-based organization Climate Care, with a total of 5000 energy-efficient bulbs planned for future installation. Energy awareness activities were carried out alongside the initial distribution of light bulbs as well.

GSEII Events in Dominica

March 2006. Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Stakeholders Meeting

 

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