As per Wärtsilä, the additional capacity will help in meeting the increased energy demand from the country’s growing tourist industry. The hand-over of the projects took place last December.
Consorcio Energético Punta Cana-Macao (CEPM), a utility company in the country, ordered a 51MW power plant from Wärtsilä to be delivered on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis in the end of 2017. CEPM has been a long-term customer of Wärtsilä.
Wärtsilä claims to have delivered the project in less than one year. The baseload power plant will supply electricity to hotels, restaurants, local industries and residential customers in the popular tourist resorts of the Punta Cana-Bávaro and Bayahibe areas.
The plant is powered by three Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines, which will be mainly fueled by natural gas when it becomes locally available. It will also generate steam for thermal customers.
Wärtsilä Energy Business Latin America North and the Caribbean regional director Sampo Suvisaari said: “Wärtsilä has been active in the Dominican Republic for many years and we are delighted to be working with CEPM again on this important project. The extra capacity now available will allow the local power system to reliably meet the growing energy demand.”
In addition, Wärtsilä had also delivered the 9.16MW extension of the Grupo Punta Cana power plants constructed back in 2005 and 2014. The latest extension involved installing Wärtsilä’s 34DF dual-fuel engine which can operate on natural gas, heavy fuel oil (HFO), or diesel.
Suvisaari said: “Fuel flexibility is an important benefit of Wärtsilä’s Smart Power Generation approach, and as an enabler for renewable energy sources within the system. The high efficiency is retained, even in the varying high temperature conditions that can be expected in the Caribbean.”
In December last year, Wärtsilä completed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for a 130MW natural gas fuelled plant in Mexico.
