The heat wave affecting the Dominican Republic has resulted in a new peak in power consumption this month.
The Ministry of Energy & Mines reports that gross energy demand reached 3,636 megawatts on the evening of Thursday, 12 October 2023, a record for October. This year, summer weather has extended throughout October.
“Yesterday’s [12 October 2023] energy consumption was 77.3 million kilowatt hours, even though the average daily consumption until August of this year was only 65 million kilowatt hours, which means a 9% growth in daily consumption of the month,” Minister of Energy and Mines Antonio Almonte explained.
Minister Almonte says the service has been stable. He said that power generation in place has satisfied the demand due to the effective coordination that the government’s electricity sector has carried out with the private generating companies, Punta Catalina and the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (EGEHID).
“Demand has grown fundamentally due to the economic, social and productive development that the Dominican Republic is experiencing, and we as a government have adopted measures to guarantee the supply of energy to all Dominican sectors,” said Minister Almonte.
Renewables are a blessing – solar, thermal, wind and hydroelectric generators make the difference.
Meanwhile, residents in Villa Carmen, one of the largest neighborhoods in eastern Santo Domingo complained of constant blackouts, as reported in Listin Diario.
Read more in Spanish:
Ministry of Energy & Mines
Listin Diario
16 October 2023