Despite opposition from Energy Minister Pelegrin Castillo, who is recommending that the country’s next natural gas plant should be installed on the north coast, investors in the Antillean Gas plant say the project is well advanced. Engineering designs for its installation in southeastern San Pedro de Macoris have concluded, said Juan B. Vicini, chief executive of the Grupo Vicini, one of the promoters of the plant, during a meeting of the energy sector organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Juan Dolio, San Pedro de Macoris. Vicini announced that an agreement has been reached with a US company for the supply of natural gas and the construction of the floating re-gasification unit has begun in Asia. He said the Antillean Gas operation would provide 1,000 megawatts of gas to power plants installed in the area, which would result in a decline in the cost of kilowatt hour in the country. He said the start of operation of Antillean Gas would mean savings of around US$300 million a year by supplying the CESPM, Quisqueya 1, Quisqueya 2, Sultana del Este, Los Origenes and Cemex power plants with a 980 mw capacity.
The first phase of the project is the re-gasification plant for receiving natural gas from large tankers transporting liquid gas for conversion into natural gas. A 25km gas pipeline network will be built for this purpose. The project is designed by Promigas of Colombia.
As reported in El Dia, Vicini said that the company is also securing the permits. The Minister of Energy has stated that the AES natural gas plant in the La Caleta area of Santo Domingo has the capacity to supply the southern part of the island.