During a meeting on Wednesday, 26 September 2018 in New York City with President Danilo Medina, the CEO of AES Corporation, Andrés Gluski, revealed that the natural gas company has the AES Andres power plant back on the national power grid generating 110 megawatts of power. As of November, an additional 120 megawatts will be added to the system. Gluski said that by February 2019, he expects the complete 300 megawatts will be back on the Dominican Republic electric grid. The company had reported the unplanned shutdown of AES Andrés that suffered an accident on 3 September 2018 supposedly when it was struck by lighting.
Also participating in the meeting were AES chief operating officer Bernerd da Santos, the regional president for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Juan Ignacio Rubiolo, and the director of public relations, Madelka McCalla.
Participating for the Dominican Republic were Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta, Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero and the executive vice president of the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE), Rubén Jiménez Bichara.
President Danilo Medina was in New York to participate in the 73rd UN General Assembly. President Medina flew back to Santo Domingo on Wednesday, 26 September 2018.
AES is the largest US investor in the Dominican Republic, and the sole operator of natural gas fired power plants. It also has the country’s only LNG import terminal. In 2014, the company had expressed its interest in creating a LNG hub for servicing the rest of the Caribbean from the Dominican Republic. AES plants are among the lowest cost plants in the country. The company began operations in 1997, at a time when the country relied solely on petroleum fuels such as heavy oil, gasoline, and diesel for thermal generation.
The meeting with Gluski in New York comes after it is known that a Chinese government entity signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 1,200MW natural gas power complex in Montecristi, in the area of the Manzanillo Port on the northwest. The AES power plant is located on the south coast. The Chinese-proposed project also encompasses the construction of the natural gas terminals as well as transmission and distribution systems from the power plant to the national power grid. China Huayang Economic and Trade Group signed the MOU with the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) on 5 July 2018.
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27 September 2018
