Dual Coal Fired Power Plants are being tested at Punta Catalina

Nice, but why does it matter?

Fred it matters a great deal to those of us who live here. A massive amount of money was spent to help resolve our electricity issues!  That plant brings a huge amount of capacity online.  And it's not working!!!

Imagine in the heat of the summer months experiencing prolonged outages!  Imagine trying to run businesses with 4,6 or 8 hours without electricity!

That's why it matters!

They should have been running by February but are still in the testing phase.

It was a terrible and clearly very corrupt decision to go build environmentally bad coal plants using the now disgraced corrupt Odebrecht company at twice the cost of the low bidder and then have nearly a billion dollars in extras. For the corruption in this case, there appears to have been a cover up which was discovered by journalists in the past couple of months (at least $41m in bribes).

LPG plants would have been much cheaper and even better DR could have invested in more wind and solar plants. It is amusing to now see wind turbines across the bay from Punta Catalina in Peravia.

As a side note I would suggest one watches the current engaging ongoing Netflix series 'The Mechanism' which is a partly fictional account of how a major Brazilian contractor (Odebrecht) with other contractors, the Brazilian state oil company and all Brazilian government parties enaged in rackettering and coruption which ultimately spread here in a big way and here was the base of Odebrechts coruption operation paying bribes in 13 countries. This will all come out in later seasons.

Solar and wind power are great supplements to 24 hour generators when the sun shines and the wind blows and  even better if you have lots and lots of batteries to store the energy when it doesn't.   

LPG could be an option, but who will keep the Pennsylvania coal miners busy?

Yes, Odebrecht's infamy will live on.

Good to see France investing in renewables in DR:

https://noticiassin.com/prestamo-france … les-en-rd/

lennoxnev wrote:

Good to see France investing in renewables in DR:

https://noticiassin.com/prestamo-france … les-en-rd/

France is providing a loan.  Some consider loans as an investment, but I follow this approach on that topic:

A loan is the act of giving money, property or other material goods to another party in exchange for future repayment of the principal amount along with interest or other finance charges. A loan may be for a specific, one-time amount or can be available as an open-ended line of credit up to a specified limit or ceiling amount.

An investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or will appreciate in the future.

I just read renewable are up to 7% of our grid. 

Coal is old technology and not good for the environment. And it's clearly not cheap!

The plant came online for several weeks and then of again for " adjustments"   Supposedly it came back online July 7!

I am one who has been suffering from unscheduled long outages due to lack of supply! Yes I have and inverter and batteries.

yes, under 7 % has been reported in the media recently and the target is 30% by 2030. Yet again, it was reported that 16.7% was from renewables last year:

https://www.eldinero.com.do/65163/repub … renovable/

Here are the current statistics:

https://www.cne.gob.do/estadisticas-energeticas/

DR could be like Costa Rica which has been 100% renewable of recent but old dirty and inefficient oil derivative fired plants still prevail in DR and now dirty old coal too. Sad, along with an inefficient grid which is being upgraded now with Chinese aid. Poor governance imo.

A lot is now happening in the South West and North East. Best parts of the country for wind and solar generation.

There is so much attention for wind solar and wave technology here.

Then let's start talking about recycling as well!!!!

planner wrote:

Fred it matters a great deal to those of us who live here.

I guessed, but the OP was lacking in any details so I hoped to encourage him to add comment rather than post a lonely link.
However, I took a shot time to read the piece then find out a little about the conditions and background - Quite interesting.

Indeed there is so much to read on this dirty coal plant.

Odebrecht were the lead contractor with now known (corrupt) links to government and businessmen but the Italian contractor Technimont and DR steel company Estrella are also in the frame.

Here is a link to recent English language stories about this project:

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/201 … raft-case/https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/201 … wer-plant/https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/201 … odebrecht/https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/201 … wer-plant/https://dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2 … n-scandal/

The corruption involved has only surfaced recently through journalists and the Italian link after a government commission appointed by the President found no such corruption in the tendering process a year or so ago.

It is disgusting that a relatively poor country has been saddled with an environmentally unfriendly coal powered electricity generating plant at inflated cost which is likely to polute a green part of DR with the emissions including acid rain, but worse burden the country with more debt. Oh yes they are trying to sell the plant on.

planner wrote:

There is so much attention for wind solar and wave technology here.

Then let's start talking about recycling as well!!!!

Planner, I'm very familiar with the recycling industry, and while it creates a “warm and fuzzy” feeling for people it does little for the environment, and is often detrimental.  The carbon footprint created by fielding a fleet of separate trucks to collect various “recyclables” is larger than that saved by reprocessing those collected item, especially since a real market exists for only a small percentage of these materials.

In actuality the DR's current system of landfill “pickers” however distasteful, is probably more efficient and effective than a separate collection.  These people know what is valuable and what is not.

A refund fee on plastic bottles and an anti litter campaign would be far more effective in my opinion in cleaning up the environment.

Ok. I don't disagree with that assessment.  A deposit on plastic bottles means they are recycled - correct!   And yes those who repurpose and reuse from the landfill are efficient.  Isn't there a way to make there lives of better quality?

This is a culture where things are fixed until they can no longer be fixed, which I love.

Some education on litter, banning styrofoam,  composting etc can go a long way!

I fully agree that careful separation of various types of plastics for recycling into their original plastic formulations, (especially with the lack of process facilities for the original manufacture of plastics on the island) is not going to be cost effective at all. 

Consequently, I recommend a hybrid approach, a deposit and refund and process regarding bottles and a growing market for other plastics plucked from landfills to give that material some market.

But what could that market be?  As I think I earlier mentioned, I really like plastic for roadways.  I am guessing that the climatic considerations in India and the DR are relatively similar with respect to longevity and stability.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/recyc … -roads.htm

Regards,

JR

I read about that as well.  I think that this is worth looking at.  We have so many road issues and so much plastic.

There are lithium battery systems with 2000 recharge cycle that put out enough power to run a microwave, or power a fridge for a couple days.  And they charge off solar panels in around 6 hours as well as the cigarette light 12v in your car, and the electricity in your home.  $2000 cdn but, highly refined.

These things SHOULD have NO TAX, but I'll bet that bringing 1 into the country will be difficult.
For example, hand guns cost 10x in the DR, compared to Canada.   Even more when compared to the USA.

All that cash is not going to Glock, Smith & Wesson, Winchester or Sig Sauer.  It is going into the hands of unknown individuals.  Do you really think it is being funelled back into the DR infrastructure to benefit the citizens?  Like they say:  "Follow the money".

That is just guns.  Power is not a "want", it is a "need".  There is no doubt in my mind that corruption is crippling the DR.  Everybody should be diligent to stop corruption and think of the rest of the community.  So we won't be rich!  Who cares.  We won't miss a meal either.  And the best part?  Neither will the rest of the community.

Where I live, I NEVER have to ration water in any way.  Neither does anyone else.  But I still do.  Not for others, but just because wasting something is wrong.  Even if I don't think about restricting my water use, NO ONE will be missing water.  That's not the point.  The point is appreciating the water, and the value of it.  Also, even if there is an abundance, it still costs something.  Even if I can afford it easily, that does not mean that everyone else can.  So it is wrong to waste.  That simple.  It is WRONG TO WASTE.

I believe you are right.  In my city, which is known for following instructions like zombies (if it is "trending" and "politically correct"), they asked us to STOP RECYCLING GLASS PRODUCTS, unless of course they are the refundable, drink and alcohol containers made of glass.

It's not about the environment.....it's about the money.  At least a glass jar will be a glass jar a year from now.  But when they can print money at will, will the money be worth as much a year from now?

Of course not!   Where's the profit and control of the masses in that!

Solar panels come in duty free. You pay sales tax only.

It's easy to preach about what should happen. It's easy to talk about corruption.  It's not easy to fix. 

And  it's important to remember we are guests here and it's not our right to tell anyone how things should be.  In fact when it comes to politics its actually illegal to get involved!

kittenjuggler,  once I learned that large corporations and lobbyists were really in charge of most decisions, the picture of how the world operates became much  clearer to me.

About the only thing recycled in the DR are Presidente (and Bohemia) glass beer bottles.
I also learned that fiat money is just another form of taxation.

Coal fired power plants built under very corrupt circumstances are just one example. There are huge court cases against and because of corruption with Odebrecht in the DR and the world, etc. 

The Chinese are the largest threat that exists in the world.  Look at the ports, mineral rights to make things like lithium batteries, etc they are buying up because they have been competing unfairly in the world stage with government backed programs, low wages and a communist controlled version market driven system. And we have their finger prints all over these new power plants. There is a challenge only recently being made to the Chinese.  Imports, as in cheap Chinese crap,  will now cost more in my home country.

Let's keep this DR related please and not stray.

https://dialogochino.net/23203-dominica … -to-china/

The influence China will have over DR is indeed related.

StanR wrote:

https://dialogochino.net/23203-dominican-republic-warms-to-china/

The influence China will have over DR is indeed related.

Indeed and that is exactly my point as well.  The Chinese have screwed over other countries just by taking over their ports. And also by providing loans they know cannot be paid back. And by "helping with infrastructure"  like Punta Catalina's two coal fired plants.  One such country is one where I had originally intended to retire to.

Imagine how much 10 Billion Dollars of investments and loans at 2 to 3 percent interest rates will corrupt politicians in the DR to a man (or woman or whatever gender they are) ?

The Chinese are learning how to be excellent puppet masters.

On a related note:  Has anyone been to Migracion lately? Did you notice how many mainland Chinese people are becoming legal residents?  -- They aren't coming to open Chinese restaurants.--

In the case of Punta Catalina which is what this thread is about, had the low bidder, Gezhouba Group Company Limited of China been awarded the job, the saving to the Dominican public purse would have been a staggering 2 billion US dollars.

Politics almost certainly intervened in the award process but maybe we will never know if the then long standing relationships with Taiwan, US coal or Odebrecht or all three were behind this massive fraud for the Dominican people.

And we still don't have the plants fully operational but do have plenty of power cuts during a very hot summer.