The power sector in the Dominican Republic has traditionally been, and still is, a bottleneck to the country's economic growth. A prolonged electricity crisis and ineffective remedial measures have led to a vicious cycle of regular blackouts, high operating costs of the distribution companies, large losses including electricity theft through illegal connections, high retail tariffs to cover these inefficiencies, low bill collection rates, a significant fiscal burden for the government through direct and indirect subsidies, and very high costs for consumers as many of them have to rely on expensive alternative self-generated electricity.World Bank 2006 According to the World Bank, the revitalization of the Dominican economy depends greatly on a sound reform of the sector.World Bank 2007

Electricity supply and demand

Installed capacity

Electricity generation in the Dominican Republic is dominated by thermal units fired mostly by imported oil or gas (or liquefied natural gas). At the end of 2006, total installed capacity of public utilities was 3,394 MW, of which 86% was fossil fuels and 14% was hydroelectric. The detailed share for the different sources is as follows:

The large coal-fired Punta Catalina power plant has been accused of causing considerable soil, water and pollution, reportedly affecting the health and livelihoods of local residents.“Punta Catalina thermoelectric Power Plant, Body of the Crime: Violations of Children’s Rights in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean”, FIDH, 2023 https://own.fidh.net/index.php/s/EmeafTdgsXiKRCo

Source Installed capacity (MW) Share (%) Steam turbines 606.2 17.9% Gas turbines 572.7 16.9% Combined cycle 804 23.7% Fuel oil engines 912 26.9% Diesel oil engines 30 0.9% Hydroelectricity 469.3 13.8% Source: Electricity Superintendence Statistics, 2006

Total electricity generated in 2006 was 10.7 TWh. Generation experienced a 7.7% annual increase between 1996 and 2005. However, between 2004 and 2006, there has been an average annual decrease of about 10% in total electricity generated.,Olade 2006

Planned expansion

Currently, there are plans for the construction of two 600MW coal-fired plants, Montecristi and Azúa, by the private sector. It is also expected that, by 2012, an additional 762MW of hydroelectric capacity will have been added to the generation system. The first three hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 240MW are:

Pinalito with 50 MW on the Rio Tireo and the Rio Blanco, Palomino with 99 MW at the confluence of the rivers Yaque Del Sur and Blanco, and Las Placetas with 87 MW, involving an inter-basin transfer from the Rio Bao to the Rio Jaguá

The two first plants are already under construction.CDEEE-Imagen Energética No.7 and BNDES

Alternative sources for self-generation

As a response to the electricity supply crisis (see crisis section below)., many consumers turned to alternative self-generation units such as small diesel generators, inverters, kerosene lamps or large power generators (for large industrial consumers). It is estimated that total installed capacity in 2006 was 5,518MW, which means that self-generation accounted for about 2,214MW, equivalent to 63% of the 3,394MW total capacity of public utilities and 38% of total installed capacity.Estimated from data in Olade, 2006 The costs associated with this self-generation capacity are very high as they include equipment purchase, maintenance and fuel supply. This affects the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. For the latter, about 60% of its electricity consumption is self-generated.

Demand

Electricity demand in the Dominican Republic has grown considerably since the early 1990s, at a yearly average of 10% between 1992 and 2003. Consumption is very close to the regional average, with annual per capita consumption of 1,349 kWh in 2003. Total electricity sold in 2005 was 3.72 TWh. Demand has constrained supply (see crisis section below), which in turn is limited by subsidies (see subsidies below)

In 2001, the share of each sector in the electricity sold by the three distribution companies (EdeNorte, EdeSur and EdeEste) was as follows:Comisión Nacional de Energía 2004

Residential: 44% Commercial: 10% Industrial: 30% Public: 16%

Demand projections

Annual demand increase has been estimated at about 6% for the upcoming years.Egehid Expansion Plan 2006-2012 (power point presentation)

Access to electricity

Distribution networks cover 88% of the population, with about 8% of the connections thought to be illegal. Government plans aim to reach 95% total coverage by 2015.

Service quality

Service quality in the Dominican Republic has suffered a steady deterioration since the 1980s. Frequent and prolonged blackouts result mainly from financial causes (i.e. high system losses and low bill collection) that are further aggravated by technical factors (i.e. unadequate investments in transmission and distribution). Poor service quality is also characterized by large voltage and frequency fluctuations.

Interruption frequency and duration

The transmission system in the Dominican Republic is weak and overloaded, failing to provide reliable power and causing system-wide blackouts. East-west and north-south transmission lines need to be reinforced in order to deliver electricity to the capital and northern regions and to transmit power from the new power plants in the eastern region.

Distribution losses

Distribution is the most dysfunctional element of the country's power system. Distribution losses in the Dominican Republic have historically been high and have increased even further in recent years. In 2005, the percentage of losses was 42.5%, up from 28.5% in 2002. This is far above the 13.5% average for LAC. Sustained poor service quality and relatively high prices have induced theft through illegal connections and non-payment of electricity bills. Recent data for 2007 show that only about 59% of power purchased by the distribution companies is eventually paid for by consumers (88% would be the target percentage for a well-managed distribution company ). Although still very low, this percentage has shown an improvement up from about 52% in 2005.

Responsibilities in the electricity sector

Policy and regulation

The National Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de la Energía, CNE) is the policy agency, one of its main responsibilities being the elaboration of the National Energy Plan. The CNE presented in 2004 the National Energy Plan for the period 2004-2015 as well as the Indicative Plan of Electricity Generation (PIEGE)Indicative Plan of Electricity Generation (PIEGE) for the period 2006-2020.

The Electricity Superintendence (Superintendencia de Electricidad, SIE) is the regulatory agency, while the Coordination Agency (Organismo Coordinador, OC) was created to coordinate dispatch of electricity.

The Dominican Corporation of State Electricity Companies (Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales - CDEEE) is a holding company that brings together all government-owned generation, transmission and distribution companies and associated government programs in the country. It consists of:

Hydroelectricity Generation Company Electricity Transmission Company, ETED (Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Dominicana) Rural and Suburban Electrification Unit, UERS Blackout Reduction Program, PRA 50% of the North Distribution Company, EdeNorte 50% of the South Distribution Company, EdeSur the 50% government holding of the East Distribution Company, EdeEste

EdeNorte and EdeSur are entirely government-owned, the remaining 50% shares being held by the government's Enterprise Trust Fund, Fondo Patrimonial de las Empresas (FONPER). EdeEste is a mixed private-public company.

Generation

86% of generation capacity is privately owned (excluding self-generation), and 14% is publicly owned. Generation capacity is shared among the different companies as follows:

Company Generation capacity (MW) Share (%) Geographic areas (north, south, east) Haina (private) Basic Energy Ltd. 663.3 19.5% N, S, E Itabo (private) 630.5 18.6% N, S, E Hydroelectricity (public) 469.3 13.8% N, S Independent Power Producers (IPPs) (private) 515 15.2% N, S, E Unión Fenosa (private) 194.5 5.7% N CEPP (private) Basic Energy Ltd. 76.8 2.3% N Transcontinental Capital Corp. (private) 116.3 3.4% S Monte Rio (private) 100 2.9% S AES (private) 555 16.4% E Metaldom (private) 42 1.2% S Laesa (private) 31.4 0.9% N Total 3,394.1 Source: Electricity Superintendence Statistics

Transmission

The transmission system, which is under the full responsibility of the state-owned company ETED (Electricity Transmission Company),Comisión Nacional de Energía 2005 consists of 940 km of 138kV single-line circuit lines that radiate from Santo Domingo to the north, east, and west.

Distribution

In the Dominican Republic, there are three distribution companies. The government owns two of them, EdeNorte and EdeSur, through the CDEEE (50%) and the Fondo Patrimonial de las Empresas (FONPER). It also maintains a 50% ownership of the third one, EdeEste, (the additional 50% is owned by the Trust Company of the West (TCW) which is operated by AES Corporation, its original buyer. The three companies serve a similar share of the market.

Renewable energy resources

As it has been described, most electricity generation in the Dominican Republic comes from thermal sources. Only 14% of the installed capacity is hydroelectric, with this percentage falling to below 9% when all the thermal self-generation is accounted for. The exploitation of other renewable resources (i.e. solar, wind) is very limited. However, this situation is expected to change following the enactment of in May 2007 of the Law of Incentives to Renewable Energy and Special Regimes (Law No. 57-07). Among other incentives, this law establishes financing at favorable interest rates for 75% of the cost of equipment for households that install renewable technologies for self-generation and for communities that develop small-scale projects (below 500 kW).

Hydroelectricity

As it has been mentioned, Egehid's expansion plan contemplates the addition of 762MW of hydroelectricity capacity in the period 2006-2012. According to CDEEE, the first of the new series of dams and hydropower plants - Pinalito - is a "model of environmental management", with only 12 families resettled and extensive reforestation.

Wind

A 2001 study estimated that the Dominican Republic had a wind generation potential of 68,300GWh per year, equivalent to more than six times its current power production.

Solar

In March 2016, the 33.4 MW Monte Plata solar plant came online. The farm consists of 132,000 photovoltaic panels. It was built by Soventix Caribbean (www.soventix.energy), and there will be a proposed second phase consisting of 270,000 photovoltaic panels that would double the size of the plant to 69 MW.Caribbean’s largest solar array goes online, gizmag, Stu Robarts, March 31, 2016

In August 2018, the 57.98 MW solar park Montecristi Solar started its energy injection to the grid, and became the largest solar farm in the Caribbean with 214,000 photovoltaic panels. A second phase is planned to double the capacity to 116 MW.

In 2021, Girasol Solar Park was inaugurated and its currently the largest photovoltaic plant in the country and the Caribbean. It has a total installed capacity of 120 megawatts, which is estimated to produce 240,000 MWh per year.