Abinader on energy: “Blackouts are caused by breakdowns. There are no more financial blackouts”

Santo Domingo – During his fourth accountability speech, President Luis Abinader affirmed that blackouts in the country are a thing of the past since the Energy Distribution Companies supply 98% of the national electricity demand, leaving behind the blackouts caused by State debts, as had happened in the past.

In this sense, the president recognizes a long way to go. Still, during his term of office, they strengthened the national electric sector, injecting hundreds of megawatts into the energy system in less than four years.

“Regarding distribution, we can say that undoubtedly, we have many opportunities for improvements in the financial and technical part of the EDEs, but we cannot fail to highlight that we currently serve 98% of the energy demand through the electricity distributors. Blackouts are caused by breakdowns. Today, in our country, there are no more financial blackouts,” said the president

Likewise, he mentioned his government’s axes in this sector, allowing him to execute public policies to improve one of the most criticized sectors during the last decades.

“Our energy policy is based on 5 lines of action; the expansion of the electricity generation park, modernization of the transmission system, sanitation and management of distribution companies, the promotion of electricity production from renewable sources and the updating of the legal and regulatory framework of the electricity sector,” he said.

President Luis Abinader affirms that the EDEs supply 98% of the local demand.

The president also pointed out the growth in distribution that the Dominican Republic has registered, adding some 2,000 megawatts to the system, only from thermal generation.

“As an example of our policy, with the public tender of 800 new megawatts launched last November, added to the 800 megawatts tendered in 2021 and which will be built in Manzanillo, plus the 400 megawatts tendered urgently also in 2021 and already in operation, we have tendered so far this administration some 2000 new megawatts of thermal generation, a milestone in the history of the public electricity sector in the Dominican Republic,” he said.

About what has been done during his term in office compared to past administrations, Abinader said that “it is enough to point out that during the four periods of government from 2004 to 2020, only one tender was made for a new generation in the country. In 2023, 273 new megawatts of renewable energy started production out of the 570 MW installed during my administration, totaling 1126 MW installed since 2011.”

According to the governor, these actions reduced the “consumption of fossil fuels for the production of electricity, with savings of approximately 280 million dollars.”

He also assures that “the expansion of renewable energies continues, and a total of 26 projects are currently under construction that will contribute 1,451 new megawatts expected to start production between this year 2024 and next year 2025.”

“As can be seen, the country is undergoing a broad and deep process of transformation and modernization of its electricity generation park. The strategic objectives of this process are to provide our electricity system for the first time and in the first place with a cold reserve of generation close to 15 or 20% of the maximum annual power demand. And, secondly, through an adequate and flexible combination of types of generating plants and renewable sources, to guarantee the security of energy supply in any international scenario that makes it difficult to access any of the fuels required to produce electricity,” he emphasized.

Abinader is committed to the modernization of the energy sector, as he stated during his speech.

Luis Abinader also highlighted the confidence his administration has generated in foreign investment, which is reflected in the millions of dollars these projects have injected into the Dominican Republic.

“It is within the framework of this strategy that the government has managed to attract large investments of local and foreign capital to develop energy projects. Precisely, last year, the Energy sector led foreign direct investment in the Dominican economy totaling US$826.9 million according to figures from the Central Bank as of September. It is expected that the final bulletin will reveal that foreign direct investment in energy for the whole year exceeded one billion dollars, which would mean a historic milestone in this sector,” said the president

The Dominican head of state made the declarations during his speech on the 180th anniversary of Dominican Independence, representing this presidential term’s last speech.