Emirates Power DR, S.A. was granted the tender to construct the two coal-fired generators that are supposed to produce 1,200 megawatts for the Dominican Republic, and put an end to the continuous blackouts. The CDEEE made the announcement after a 20-hour meeting that started Monday and ended just yesterday.
The long and complicated process was held to evaluate the three offers that came in to build the generation facilities. One was from the Sichuan Machinery Company (China), and it offered electricity at US$0.0257 per kilowatt-hour. However the CDEEE was to provide the fuel (coal) and contract for 100% of the electricity produced. A second offer was from the Emirates Power DR, and it included a price of US$0.03 per kilowatt-hour for the Azua facility and US$0.029 per kilowatt-hour for the generator in Montecristi. Emirates requires that the CDEEE purchase 30% of total output. The HN Energy offer was centered on the spot energy market. All three offers were considered and, at the conclusion of the session, Emirates was given first option, Sichuan was given second option and the HN Energy offer was given third option. In all cases the Dominican government is responsible for providing the coal to be used in the generators.
According to the El Caribe, the Emirates offer is backed by the Sino-Hydro Company, the construction company that is currently building the world’s largest hydro-electric facility in China, the famous Three Gorges Project. News reports say that the same local group that promoted the Westmount option that was disputed for irregularities and was to be single-handedly imposed by the government, were behind the group that won the tender.