It will be in circuit rehabilitation, loss reduction, substation expansion, and system modernization.
Electricity distribution companies plan to invest US$2,098.3 million In the next six years, the Superintendent of Electricity announced yesterday, Andres Astacio.
Speaking at a conference on “Challenges of the Electricity Sector in the Dominican Republic” at the Industrial Meeting of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), Astacio said that the investment will be in five key areas: circuit rehabilitation, loss reduction, substation expansion, system modernization and improvement of public lighting.
He highlighted two important achievements: that the supply of demand increased from 84.72% in 2017 to 98% in 2023 and the completion of four energy bidding processes for 2,900 megawatts.
He considered that the main challenges of the system are: guaranteeing the continuous supply of demand, integrating more generation capacity; sustainability of the distributors, reducing their losses; updating the regulatory framework, security and stability of the National Interconnected Electric System (SENI) with the growth of variable renewable energies, and development of transport network infrastructure in accordance with the growth of demand and supply of electricity.
When discussing the sector’s prospects, he said that there will be a significant increase in renewable and non-renewable generation by 2027 and that the Transmission System Expansion Plan (2021-2035) expects an estimated investment of 794.7 million dollars.
As of May last year, there was a diversity of energy sources including natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass.
The goal, Astacio said, is to reach 25% of electricity supplied by renewable energy by 2025 and 30% by 2030.
He also spoke about regulations, technological innovation to improve the efficiency and resilience of the electrical system, and about educational actions and social responsibility initiatives carried out by the Superintendency of Electricity.
He highlighted the importance of implementing battery energy storage systems for auxiliary services as part of technological innovation.
In his opening speech at the meeting, AIRD President, Julio Virgil Brachesaid that “one of the most pressing problems of recent decades and for which we have not found a definitive balance or solution is the electrical problem.
We made a Pact in which we proposed to achieve a goal: ‘an electric service under the principles of universality, accessibility, efficiency, transparency, responsibility, continuity, reasonableness and tariff equity.’
He stressed the need for new investments and prospects to meet the growing demand for electricity, which is vital for the country’s industrial and economic development.
