Exploitation of geothermal resources for electricity production and other direct 
uses is especially well suited to islands without primary energy sources. It is 
competitive with fuel-powered plants and is an indigenous, environmentally -
friendly renewable energy source. This is well illustrated by the successful 
development of geothermal energy at Bouillante, Guadeloupe (F.W.I.) where a 
14 MWe geothermal power plant is operating. Other peripheral islands of the 
European Union are doted with geothermal resources, e.g. Nisyros in Greece 
and Pantelleria, Italy. However, until now, there is no exploitation.

The project GE-ISLEBAR, supported by the European Commission (5th FP), 
provided a benchmark of these 3 case studies (Nisyros, Pantelleria, 
Guadeloupe). Its goals were to analyse barriers to the development of 
geothermal exploitation on these islands, to compare them and to propose 
actions in order to overcome these barriers.

The implementation of a geothermal exploitation in such islands has to face 
several potential barriers related to :
	Availability of a geothermal resource with characteristics compatible 
with a commercial exploitation,
	Local demand in energy sufficient to justify a development project,
	Economical attractiveness of the investment,
	Environmental constraints,
	Public acceptance,
	Conflict of interests with other economic operators,
	Lack of a strong entity to manage a development project.
Each of them has been considered as a criticality and a "criticality index" has 
been set up in order to scale the "height" of these barriers. 

It appears that despite a quite homogeneous economical attractiveness, 
Guadeloupe differs from the two others islands on the absence of important 
environmental, sociological or organisational barriers that can jeopardize the 
development of projects.

Furthermore, one of the main barriers for the small-scale geothermal 
exploitation well-suited for peripheral islands is related to the high and risky 
investment costs of additional exploration and drilling. This barrier can be 
overcome by setting an appropriate mechanism covering the "Mining Risk" 
supported by Public Funds, like in Guadeloupe.

Other strong barriers are related to the lack of strong entity/investors who 
take on the unavoidable technical and financial risks of a project, and to the 
public acceptance of such projects - local population as well as tourists are not 
keen to see industrial facility in beautiful landscapes. Efficient actions of 
dissemination towards the local community, decision-makers, investors, 
showing the potential benefits of geothermal exploitation appear to be a 
prerequisite to overcome these barriers.

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