AES says its natural gas plant saves Dominican Republic US$500M: EFE

Nassau, Bahamas.- Energy company AES president AndrésGluski on Friday said since his company installed the Dominican Republic’sfirst natural gas terminal in Andrés, Boca Chica in 2003, "the country hasreduced generation based on fossil fuels from 90% to 39%, while gas-firedgeneration grew 31%," EFE reports.

"Overall, we have generated savings of 500 milliondollars annually for the Dominican economy," said Glusky.

In the West the trend is to promote natural gas as anenergy source, thanks to power plant already operating in the DominicanRepublic and those under construction in Jamaica.

Moreover AES also recently announced construction of aplant in Panama, with the potential to establish a gas distribution center forthe Caribbean and Central America.

In that regard, Rafael Santana, General Electric president forLatin America, stressed the importance of diversifying the energy sources inthe Caribbean to reduce the impact of possible price jumps and facilitate moreeffective management.

The energy issue is one of the key issues on the agenda ofthe Inter-American Bank’s (IDB) Annual Meeting, being held in the Bahamiancapital, Nassau this weekend.