Most of the Dominican Republic has recently suffered rolling blackouts that are explained as the result of the shutdown of one of the two twin plants at the Punta Catalina II power station for technical reasons. Punta Catalina is the largest power generation plant in the country, and when it has problems, these are felt.
Punta Catalina power station (Central Termoeléctrica Punta Catalina) is an operating power station of at least 752-megawatts (MW) in Punta Catalina – Hatillo, Azua, Dominican Republic. Azua is a two hour west drive from the capital city.
According to the Unified Board of Electricity Distributors (CUED), a combination of the near-record heat, the disconnection of several small generation stations for normal maintenance, and the non-programmed shutdown of Punta Catalina II all contributed to the blackouts that touched nearly the entire country.
There were protests that power outages were on the increase. Protests in Puerto Plata, Santiago de los Caballeros, San Francisco de Macoris, and Santo Domingo, made headline stories throughout last week.
The Minister for Energy and Mines, Joel Santos, had said that Punta Catalina II had suffered a “technical failure” and there was no set timeframe for the repairs to be made. Together with Celso Marranzini, the head of the CUED, he called for patience.
On Saturday, 16 August 2025, the authorities announced that the situation would be resolved by Sunday, 17 August. In fact, President Luis Abinader, who had just inaugurated the Bani Beltway two days before, interrupted his agenda for Saturday to make an unscheduled visit to the Punta Catalina facility.
The CUED also announced that some of the smaller generation facilities, such as Los Mina, would be back online over the weekend.
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18 August 2025