The Dominican government, through CDEEE administrator Radhames Segura, announced yesterday that it was trying to obtain two 600 megawatt, coal-fired generators from General Electric and the Skoda Corporation in the United States. This announcement follows President Fernandez’ announcement last week that the DR was looking at coal-fired generation as a possible short-term solution to the nation’s energy deficit. According to Hoy and the Listin Diario, the 600 megawatt facilities will require a US$140 million payment while the generators are being installed. According to Segura, the government will have to pay the Skoda Corporation US$7 million per month for the 20-month duration of the installation process. The new generators are due to be installed in Manzanillo in Montecristi province, and in Puerto Viejo in Azua province. The money will be repaid to the government over a five-year period and carries an 8% APR.
Segura pointed out that President Fernandez has signed an agreement with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that guarantees coal supply. Because of the IMF agreement now in place, Segura said that both the World Bank and the USAID agency are looking closely at the deal.
This announcement comes at a time when West Texas Crude has hit US$58.90 in commodity trading and prices for Venezuelan oil have reached US$45.08 per barrel.
At the same time, in what could be described as “deja vu”, the National Energy Commission and the Ministry of Environment have signed an agreement to cooperate in the fulfillment of environmental standards in the electric sector. Law 64-00 sets out that any type of electricity generation, transmission or distribution, as well as pipelines that service these installations must meet environmental standards. However, the Ministry of Environment lacks the laboratory facilities and equipment needed for monitoring the generators. This agreement, according to El Caribe, gives the Ministry US$325,000 as part of the technical assistance funding from the World Bank.