Top bidder emerges for 50MW Dominican Republic wind project

One of two groups advanced in the second call for bids to advance Dominican Republic wind project Tierra Nueva.

The top bidder is a consortium comprised of Madrid-based Typsa and local firm Itrans, information from state hydroelectric company Egehid shows. Consorio Ransur-Sisener was the other participant.

The six-month contract entails reviewing the basic design and drafting detailed engineering studies and the design for a 50MW plant in the municipality of Jimaní, Independencia province.

An award decision is expected in the coming weeks.

Tierra Nueva is part of Egehid’s diversification push, which includes the 10MW Brazo Derecho wind and 22MW Domingo Rodríguez solar projects.

PUMPED HYDRO

Meanwhile, Egehid canceled the tender launched in March to further define the potential of pumped storage hydropower.

The consultancy work targets two reservoirs in the Sabaneta area of San Juan province, one of which would have an estimated capacity of 206MW and another, 125MW.

The process was declared void due to issues in the bidding terms that prevented the “objective” selection of the most convenient proposal, said Egehid, which plans to relaunch the call.

Consorcio Codemqa was the sole bidder.

Egehid also has procurement underway to build the La Gina multipurpose hydro project.

RECORD DEMAND

For his part, energy and mines minister Joel Santos Echavarría announced that power generation in July and August hit record levels.

Maximum demand this month and in July has reached 3,691MW and 3,608MW, respectively, up 7.8% and 4.8% year on year.

“Three main variables can be identified that are driving this exponential growth: the expansion and diversification of the economy; the high temperatures of the country almost all year round; and the increase in more than 98% of the population having access to energy 24 hours a day,” a ministry release quoted Santos as saying.

To cover growing offtake, he highlighted projects in development including Manzanillo Power Land (414MW), combined cycle operation at CESPM IV (130MW) and 27 renewable energy projects, which will contribute 1,583MW in 2025-26.