Dominican Republic: Definitive Concession contract signed for the Sajoma Solar Park

This CNE release was published using machine translation.

Santo Domingo, March 31, 2023. The National Energy Commission (CNE) and the Electricity Generating Company (EGE Haina), signed the Definitive Concession contract that grants the legal permits for the formal start of operations of the new Park Solar Sajoma.

The agreement contemplates the regulations and terms corresponding to this work of electricity generation from solar energy and was signed between the Executive Director of the CNE, Edward Veras and José A. Rodríguez Silvestre, General Manager of EGE Haina.

This park will extend over a 140-hectare plot, in the municipality of San José de las Matas, province of Santiago, and will have a peak installed capacity of 80 MW, which will produce 148,000 MWh annually, enough to supply the demand of some 60,000 homes. every year.

Edward Veras, expressed that this project is an example that the Dominican Republic is experiencing the great "Boom" of renewables and the energy transition; It is a representative sample of the commitment of the government of President Luis Abinader to improve regulation, to achieve the integration of the largest number of renewable energy projects, without any restrictions.

“Solar energy reduces the costs and prices of the national electricity market. Therefore, the generation of renewable energy in the Dominican Republic will give us greater independence from oil, gas or coal”, pointed out Veras.

At the meeting, José A. Rodríguez, General Manager of EGE Haina, highlighted that this project is part of EGE Haina's strategy to expand 1,000 MW of renewable capacity and 400 MW of natural gas, in the 2020-2030 period. "This new plant will prevent the importation of approximately 244,000 barrels of oil and the emission into the atmosphere of 90,000 tons of CO₂ each year," he said.

The Sajoma Solar Park will be developed in the central mountain range of the Dominican Republic, at an approximate elevation of 490 meters above sea level, becoming the photovoltaic plant located at the highest altitude in the country.

This solar park will be made up of 123,100 650-watt monocrystalline bifacial photovoltaic modules, manufactured with a transparent back sheet or double tempered glass, which will allow the use of light from both sides of the cells to make their performance more efficient.

The project will also include a substation, a 14.6 km long double-circuit transmission line and Greeley conductor, as well as the adaptation of two line fields at the 138 kV / 345 kV Naranjo substation.

Its construction phase will last twelve months and will require the hiring of more than 600 people, mostly local labor based in the communities near the project.