In his state of the address speech on Tuesday, 28 February 2018, President Danilo Medina announced that the first firing tests at unit 1 of the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant are scheduled for May 2018 with diesel and then in September with coal. “This unit will be tested in December, with the entry of unit 2 as of February 2019,” said the President. The power plant is designed to inject 752 megawatts into the electrical grid, representing about a third of the total electricity demand.
The President was pleased to announce that in 2017 four new power generation power plants entered the system, generating solar, wind, hydroelectric and biomass and supplying an additional 125.7 megawatts. He said under construction are nine other projects in the provinces of Puerto Plata, Montecristi, Barahona and Peravia to supply 409 additional megawatts of renewable energy. He proudly mentioned the construction of 33 hydroelectric micro power centrals built in isolated areas of the country, for an additional 1,136 kilowatts and benefiting 3,500 families. To these 33 that entered in 2017, in 2018 another 14 will start operation.
He said the government has reduced transmission line losses from 35.5% in 2012 to 29.9% in 2017. He said in 2017, some 61 new projects were begun to rehabilitate 100 circuits, with an investment of US$370 million.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Listin Diario
28 February 2018
