The president of AES Dominicana, Edwin de los Santos recommends that the focus for power generation in the northwest be renewables – wind and solar energy and not natural gas. AES Dominicana is the country’s sole provider of natural gas, from its terminal located on the southern coast in Andrés, Boca Chica. The company understands it can supply the country’s demand.
Montecristi and its Manzanillo deepwater port have been in the media as a possible second location for a natural gas terminal.
In 2018, after the signing of diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, reports of the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the construction of major infrastructure in the Manzanillo Port in the northwest with a Chinese entity were published. This included a natural gas terminal.
Sources indicate that the US government objected to Chinese participation in the northwestern strategic geographic area, and proposals would come from the United States for the construction of the port area. At present a study is underway to determine the feasibility for the venue construction by a United States company. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has announced a donation of US$1.2 million for a feasibility study on the construction of a natural gas terminal and natural gas power plant in Manzanillo, Montecristi. This would be a first step to interest other US companies in a tender for the construction of port and energy infrastructure facilities in the northwest.
Energy and Mines Minister Antonio Isa Conde has stressed that competition is important in the natural gas market. US company AES Corporation operates the country’s largest natural gas infrastructure in the Andrés, Boca Chica area on the south side of the country. Isa Conde said a north coast location is of strategic convenience for security reasons in a country like ours that is on the path of Atlantic Ocean hurricanes.
Montecristi is the country’s closest point to the United States. The United States is a major natural gas supplier to the Dominican Republic.
In the interview with El Dia, Edwin de los Santos of AES Dominicana explained that by 2023 the energy matrix of the country would be primarily natural gas, coal-fired and renewables, with gradual reduction to a minimum of fossil fuel dependence.
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El Dia
22 October 2019