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EGEHID predicts significant increase in Dominican Republic hydro generation for 2021

The administrator of the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (EGEHID), Rafael Salazar, predicted that this year the projected electricity generation will be far exceeded.

“We are already above the expected goal. Today we have 92% of the goal that we had estimated for the year, so it seems that we are going to surpass the hydroelectric generation goal by far,” he said.

Salazar explained that the goal set for this year is around 1,400 GW, but to date the generation has reached 1,292 GW. “The projection is that we are going to reach 1,500 GW, which is quite important for the injection of clean energy into the country’s electricity system. This allows the country significant savings in foreign exchange that it would have to seek to produce the same amount of energy based on fossil fuels,” he explained.

He stressed that the year has been more or less favorable, although there is currently a drought. He added that the savings from clean energy production allow the state to have billions of pesos that can be invested in other areas. “Hopefully we have more dams, more solar and wind energy, because it generates considerable benefits for the country,” he said.

Salazar was approached by journalists, after laying a wreath at the Altar of the Homeland in an act of gratitude for the commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the founding of EGEHID.

Salazar explained that the works carried out by EGEHID are paid for with the institution’s own resources, including those that are due to corporate social commitment in the communities where the hydroelectric complexes are located. “The important thing is that we have sufficient resources for the works that we have in development and those that are on the agenda, as is the case of the Boca de los Ríos dam on the Guayubín river, in Santiago Rodríguez,” he reported.

He highlighted that, within the corporate social commitment, EGEHID recently raffled 92 works and there are 28 bids in process.

Salazar announced that EGEHID will soon resume construction of the 200-MW Las Placetas project in Santiago. Among other works, he cited that they are working on the dam on the Guayubín river, in Santiago Rodríguez, and progress is being made to start the project on the Artibonito river, in Elías Piña, as well as the Tierra Nueva solar project.

“At the moment we have the first solar energy project, which is the Right Arm and is being worked on and will be complete at the beginning of the year 2022,” he reported. “We have five solar and wind energy projects that are already set up to go through the bidding process and we have others that are making progress in hydro energy, such as Artibonito.”