President Luis Abinader inaugurated the refurbished Navarette to Montecristi road. The road improvements are part of the Manzanillo energy and port renovation efforts.
The works are complementary to the renovations at the 75-year old Manzanillo port, the deepest in the Dominican Republic. Manzanillo Port is the most northwest in the Dominican Republic, placing it the closest to the United States. The port is preparing to become a major export and import terminal. The InterAmerican Development Bank has lent US$100 million for the development of the Manzanillo port area.
The initiative seeks to improve the competitiveness of exports of goods originating in the northcentral Cibao region, or about 40% of national exports. At present, exporters need to send their produce to Haina and Caucedo ports in the south of the country. Manzanillo is less than an hour from Santiago.
The port will also boost banana exports in the area. Montecristi is a major banana producer.
Under construction also in the area is the Manzanillo Gas & Power and Manzanillo Energy natural gas energy project in the Pepillo Salcedo municipality, in the same Montecristi province.
Onshore storage and regasification terminal that will have the capacity to continuously supply fuel to two power generation plants of 420 MW net capacity each, for a total of 840 MW of efficient generation from of natural gas. The natural gas storage capacity is crucial for national security given that the other storage facilities are on the south coast of the country.
The energy part of the Manzanillo project has been designed in two blocks. The first is made up of the gas terminal and a 420 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant, and was awarded to Manzanillo Gas & Power, a consortium made up of Haina Investment Company (HIC), Shell Gas & Power Development (Shell). and Energy of the Americas (ENERLA).
Manzanillo is a coastal city on the border with Haiti.
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Presidency
Acento
12 March 2024