The Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) executive vice president Rubén Jiménez Bichara announced the first of two units of the Punta Catalina coal-fired power central was connected to the national power grid system (SENI) for a 30 minute test operation on 27 February 2019, in commemoration with Independence Day. The tests are supervised by General Electric, manufacturer of the turbines. As reported, during the test, 36.5 megawatts were contributed to the national power grid.
Punta Catalina Power Central is located in southcentral Hatillo, Azua. It has a gross capacity for 770-megawatts. It encompasses two power plants with capacity to contribute 337 MW each to the national power grid.
The project is the most important single infrastructure work committed by the Medina administration. The power plant has been under construction for five years by Maire Tecnimont SpA, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A and Ingenieria Estrella SRL. The project has an estimated cost of more than US$2 billion.
Jiménez Bichara said in the first two weeks of operation the power plant is expected to contribute 250 megawatts to the SENI and 300 MW by May when the second unit of the complex is scheduled to enter into operation. The power plant was built to contribute 35% of the total power consumed in the Dominican Republic and provide the government savings of US$400 million in lower cost energy generated.
To reduce the impact on the environment, a modern pipe system was installed for the transfer of coal from the coal terminal with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes to the power plant.
US-based company Xcoal Energy was contracted to supply 462,000 metric tons of coal to the Punta Catalina power plant during its test phase.
The power plant was funded by Dominican government, with loans from the Societe Generale (France), Banco Santander (Spain), ING Bank (Netherlands), Unicredit (Italy), and Deutsche Bank (Germany), after initial plans for Brazilian export agency financing BNDES collapsed after a US court convicted Odebrecht of paying bribes to secure contracts around the world. The Dominican government is seeking new investors for the project.
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28 February 2019