President Luis Abinader announced yesterday the conclusion of the tender for a natural gas terminal and two electric power plants located in Manzanillo, province of Montecristi.
The Government announced that the company Haina Investmet Corporation won the auction for Block 1, made up of a 400-megawatt plant and the gas terminal, while the Manzanillo Energy Consortium won the tender for Block 2, also made up of a 400-megawatt plant. . For a total of 800 MV.
The president stated that the public bidding program, launched to install 2,000 new megawatts of capacity, 800 of them in Manzanillo, Montecristi, is part of a State policy that will allow overcoming the erratic handling of the past.
The head of state highlighted that the price of electricity offered in block 1 is 8.84 cents of a dollar per KWh and in block 2 of 5.82 cents of dollars, values lower than the price that Punta Catalina sells at the moment.
“Using the competitive bidding method, the country will be able to build its largest power plant of 800 megawatts, a gas terminal and with a much lower investment than the more than three billion consumed in Punta Catalina by a smaller plant already on account of the budget of the nation and debts,” he said.
He reported that the investment in both blocks will be 1,700 million dollars and during the process some 4,000 jobs will be generated in the peak phases of construction, of which thousands would remain permanent, after finishing the works.
The president said that in this scheme the State will not spend a peso, since the private consortiums that win the tender will carry out the construction with their own capital and the government, through the distribution companies, will buy the energy produced by the plants.
Abinader highlighted that the Manzanillo tender was only the first, because another 400-megawatt tender was launched at the end of 2021 to be installed urgently between June and October 2022.
The president said that the tenders guarantee sufficient capacity to supply the maximum annual demand and maintain a cold reserve of at least 15% of maximum demand.
Government Proposal
The Executive recalled that in his government proposal he stated the importance of maintaining a sequential program of tenders for new electricity generation, taking into account the growth rate of the maximum annual demand for electricity, and considering the most convenient technology and geographical location for the country. .
Based on this strategic line, he added that as soon as he began his mandate, he instructed the technical team of the electricity sector to evaluate the reality between the system’s capacity offer versus the evolution of demand.
Transparent bidding
President Abinader pointed out that both tenders have already been duly awarded and the details will be offered later, in addition, he stressed that the process was administered with absolute neatness and transparency.
The coordinator of the bidding Oversight Committee, Franklin Báez Brugal, attested that the process was carried out with total transparency and that the members of the bidding committee and the experts who worked on it did so with total neatness.
While the Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Almonte, explained that 16 consortia presented interest, of which 13 were authorized to make technical proposals, only three made the economic offer and of these the two cheapest of the group were selected.
Works in Manzanillo
The Manzanillo electricity project includes a natural gas unloading, storage and distribution terminal that are part of the development plan for that town that is currently being executed.
The head of state indicated that this experience will have repercussions not only in the electrical field, but also in the international community of investors and financing agencies.
Expansion plan and electric highway
President Abinader said that the Government is also executing, through the Dominican Electricity Transmission Company, a plan for the expansion of the transmission system and high-voltage substations that includes the construction that has already begun of the 345 KV electric highway from Manzanillo to Guayubín and from Guayubín to El Naranjo, Santiago.
He stated that the construction of the 345 KV line from San Pedro Macorís to Guerra is in an advanced phase and the tender for the construction of the 345 KV line from Punta Catalina to kilometer 15 of Azua will be launched soon. This expansion of the transmission system includes hundreds of kilometers of 138 KV and 69 KV lines.
He said that the purpose is for the national electricity system to have sufficient capacity to discharge and transport all the energy that will be produced by the aforementioned plants and the renewable energy projects under development.
He considered that one of the great strategic challenges facing nations today is the assurance of energy supply in adequate conditions.
