Investor seeks permit for 100-MW wind plants

PICHARDO

PICHARDO

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May 15, 2003
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Investor seeks permit for 100-MW wind plants in Dominican Republic - report

Jun 12, 2015 18:05 CEST by Diana Hristova

June 12 (SeeNews) - Energia Eolica Renovable de Puerto Plata is waiting for a permit to install four wind farms of 100 MW each in the Dominican Republic, local daily Listin Diario said Friday, quoting the company's administrative manager, Carlos Emmerich Danzer.

The Dominican Agrarian Institute has recently issued permits for plots in the Puerto Plata province, while national utility Corporacion Dominicana de Empresas Electricas Estatales (CDEEE) has signed a letter of intent. Nonetheless, for a year and a half the developer has been waiting for a permit from president Danilo Medina, necessary for the start of the project.







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Why the wait? You may ask?

Land permit issues...
 
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PeterInBrat

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Any business plan for grid power production should include 30%-40% loss for theft, which is what the rate is for most of the island now. I don't see much future for wind in the DR since it's so limited by location and not usually close to users who can afford or need it on a large scale. You need good data for site location. A site with 20kph winds can generate eight times as much power as a 10kph site. You also need road access to remote areas with no big curves~ a GE 1.50 mW tower uses blades over 100 ft long.
 
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windeguy

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Puerto Plata does not seem to be a good location for a wind farm. Is the exact location known?
 
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the gorgon

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PICHARDO said:
Investor seeks permit for 100-MW wind plants in Dominican Republic - report

Jun 12, 2015 18:05 CEST by Diana Hristova

June 12 (SeeNews) - Energia Eolica Renovable de Puerto Plata is waiting for a permit to install four wind farms of 100 MW each in the Dominican Republic, local daily Listin Diario said Friday, quoting the company's administrative manager, Carlos Emmerich Danzer.

The Dominican Agrarian Institute has recently issued permits for plots in the Puerto Plata province, while national utility Corporacion Dominicana de Empresas Electricas Estatales (CDEEE) has signed a letter of intent. Nonetheless, for a year and a half the developer has been waiting for a permit from president Danilo Medina, necessary for the start of the project.







------------------------------------------------------



Why the wait? You may ask?

Land permit issues...
Click to expand...

the length of the wait is indirectly proportionate to the swiftness in paying the required bribe. deliver the cash quickly, get the permit quickly. dick around, and see if you get a permit. jeepetas for the boys cost money.
 
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windeguy

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ju10prd said:
They should go and talk to these guys who have already have two wind farms here and they are impressive at Los Cocos

Dominican Wind
Click to expand...

If I read their web page correctly, they have 77 MW capacity, yet only produce 8.25 MW. Seems like a poor choice of locations.

InterEnergy is a pioneer of renewable energy in the region, having developed the two first wind generation projects in the Dominican Republic. The Quilvio Cabrera wind farm, launched in 2011, brought 8.25 MW of clean energy to the Dominican electrical grid, reducing annual emissions of CO2by 11,000 tons. The first phase of the adjacent Los Cocos project, comprised of 14 Vestas V90 turbines (1.8 MW each) with an installed capacity of 25 MW, was also inaugurated in 2011. In 2013, Los Cocos was expanded to 77 MW using 26 of the latest generation Gamesa G97 turbines (2 MW each).


Or it could mean they are getting 8.25 MW out of the first set which have 25.2 MW of capacity, which is still a bad location.
 
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PeterInBrat

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The potential is based on the cube of the wind speed and the square of the blade diameter. Location, location, location...
 
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PeterInBrat

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It seems to like the same kind of investment scheme for all the half built condos and other big projects. Whether it gets finished, makes money or breaks even down the road isn't the goal, it's to raise millions, take the cream off the top, then if need be, get out of Dodge. What happens to the rest of the investors' money isn't important. Legal? Probably. But I think the are other things to invest in after doing some footwork.

I'm seeing Youtubes on privately built highways. Are any of those projects seeing a return?
 
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zoomzx11

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Why as I read Picardos post do waves of skepticism slowly engulf me? I want to believe him. Has anyone kept score? Has he ever been correct in his high minded fantastic predictions? Gotta give him credit for persistance? Is it possible he is a mole planted among us and paid by conspiratorial Dominican interests?
 
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windeguy

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They are working on a METRO system in Santo Domingo. Still not complete and those feeder buses need to be purchased at 3X the normal price.
 
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PeterInBrat

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Building metro rail transit is idiocy to anyone who's seen how well the bus system works in Curitiba, Brazil and the other cities that have used it as a model. Just because a project costs more, doesn't mean you're going to get more. Wind has its place, but you need to do extensive footwork, not simply hope for the best.
 
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ju10prd

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windeguy said:
And that is why I question a location in Puerto Plata.
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The trade winds are consistent and reliable in the Caribbean blowing from east to west for the majority of the months. Exposed east facing locations such as Los Cocos in Perdernales Province would seem one of the better locations in the country and I heard that the electricity generator of Samana wanted to locate one at the tip of the Samana Peninsula and has not got permission yet. There must be some other good locations along the North and East Coasts especially elevated ones.

As for Los Cocos, the two times I passed the blades were spinning nicely.
 
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windeguy

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The average trade wind speed is about 5 to 6 meters/second. Wind turbines need to see about 14 meters/second to work well and that is a lot of wind. Just because the blades were turning, it does not mean they were generating a lot of power
 
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ju10prd

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windeguy said:
The average trade wind speed is about 5 to 6 meters/second. Wind turbines need to see about 14 meters/second to work well and that is a lot of wind. Just because the blades were turning, it does not mean they were generating a lot of power
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Wikpedia is stating the wind speed should be 16km/hr (10mph) or greater. That is 4.5m/sec so it should work.

14m/sec is 31.3mph which is a gale perhaps you meant 14km/hr.

I see the average wind speed in Bavaro throughout the year is 9mph (4m/sec). Feels like that when sat on the beach there.

https://energypedia.info/wiki/Wind_Energy_Country_Analyses_for_the_Caribbean

The attached suggests the South West, PoP to Monte Cristi and Samana on exposed coastlines has good to excellent potential for wind farms as do some locations in the mountain ranges.
 
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windeguy

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ju10prd said:
Wikpedia is stating the wind speed should be 16km/hr (10mph) or greater. That is 4.5m/sec so it should work.

14m/sec is 31.3mph which is a gale perhaps you meant 14km/hr.

I see the average wind speed in Bavaro throughout the year is 9mph (4m/sec). Feels like that when sat on the beach there.

https://energypedia.info/wiki/Wind_Energy_Country_Analyses_for_the_Caribbean

The attached suggests the South West, PoP to Monte Cristi and Samana on exposed coastlines has good to excellent potential for wind farms as do some locations in the mountain ranges.
Click to expand...

No I meant 14 m/sec where they are most efficient. 4m/sec is not going to be a good wind speed.

Wind turbine power curves.
 
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ju10prd

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windeguy said:
No I meant 14 m/sec where they are most efficient. 4m/sec is not going to be a good wind speed.

Wind turbine power curves.
Click to expand...

Understood and correct and an interesting subject because you would very rarely get that average 32 mph wind speeds where the wind farms are located worldwide, as you say that is a lot of wind if an average, so the turbine designs are developed accordingly.

It would seem that the Gamesa G97 2MW turbines selected for Los Cocos are the ideal turbines for the likely wind speeds from the trade winds giving the maximum output.

Gamesa / Products and services / Wind turbines

This ties in with the report saying that parts of the DR are good or excellent for wind power generation.

I can only assume it is financially viable and the generation partners have reason to invest. I see the company generating electricity in Punta Cana is involved.

It would appear that DR does have a future generating wind power as do the other Caribbean islands and let's hope government approves more schemes.
 
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PeterInBrat

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Even under ideal conditions, what would be the payback time on a project like this? Don't those towers cost between $500K and $1M each to build? Hard to believe they even pay for operating costs if the output is around 10%.
 
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ju10prd

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PeterInBrat said:
Even under ideal conditions, what would be the payback time on a project like this? Don't those towers cost between $500K and $1M each to build? Hard to believe they even pay for operating costs if the output is around 10%.
Click to expand...

I'm not an investor, however there is a rush to invest in wind power even here in DR by company's involved in electrical generation so they must have a business plan. Many other Caribbean islands are doing the same too using the same trade winds.

I am no expert in this field, but by clicking on the Gamesa link above the Brochure, 2nd page and looks like the output graph/wind speed for the selected unit and a 4.5m/sec wind speed will give you 25% of output and if you happened to get 9 m/sec 20mph winds you would be getting full output.

We just don't know the actual wind speeds in that area at the height of the towers. I guess the investors researched this because they chose the turbine unit best suited for an average wind speed of 6.5m/sec (Catalogue).
 
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ohmmmm

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One should also consider in the location of a wind turbine here is the salty air. These turbines are made of metals and metals can get rusty fast. Maintenance on these turbines need to be much more frequent and comprehensive. In example, the metal support structures may have to be completely taken down and sand blasted to take off the rust and then several coats of paint applied. Until one has lived near the ocean, one does not really appreciate how rapidly metals and electronics deteriorate...imho...
 
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