Energy and Mines Minister Antonio Almonte says the Abinader administration is working to install a 2,000 megawatts between 2022 and 2026 to guarantee stable power service in the country. He said the cold reserve that would be created would permit two large power plants to be out simultaneously for maintenance.
Almonte made the remarks when interviewed by Pablo McKinney on his late night Color Vision McKinney program.
“In electricity there are no short-cycle products, there are long-cycle products. These are two, three or four year products, and what has to be evaluated is whether we are working to solve the problem of blackouts definitively. And yes, we are working to solve it by installing two thousand megawatts between 2022 and 2026, which will guarantee a real cold reserve”, said the Minister.
He explained that in most Latin American countries, the electrical system does not suffer blackouts when two or three plants go off the grid, because these countries have a cold reserve that responds quickly to any contingency.
Engineer Almonte said that the Manzanillo tender for 800 megawatts has already been awarded, plus an emergency tender for 400 megawatts. He explained another 800 megawatts of plants based on natural gas are to be installed in different parts of the country, totaling 2,000 megawatts.
He added that the construction of electricity transmission lines has also begun to guarantee that this energy is sent to the different points of the country efficiently and losses in transmission are reduced to a minimum.
“Construction has already begun on the 345 transmission line that will go from Pepillo Salcedo to Naranjo de Santiago and then interconnect with the 345 line in Bonao. There is a 345 line under construction from San Pedro de Macorís to Guerra, there is another 345 line from Punta Catalina to 15 de Azua and there is a set of other smaller capacity lines to strengthen energy transportation,” he said.
Minister Almonte emphasized that the plan for the expansion of the transmission networks is being carried out so that before the end of 2023, the electric transmission system is completely strengthened.
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Presidency
6 July 2022