The Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Almonte, informed that the Dominican Government is working to establish a regulatory framework that encourages the use of hydrogen as a fuel for the production of clean energy, thus contributing to the reduction of the emission of greenhouse effects that damage the environment.
During his presentation on “Hydrogen: Prospects of the Dominican Republic. Opportunities and Challenges,” at the Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week 2022 being held in Santo Domingo at the Hotel El Embajador, Minister Almonte stressed that hydrogen is a fuel for the future, and that studies to date indicate that one cannot aspire to a hydrogen market without a high penetration of renewable energy in the country’s energy matrix.
“We cannot consider hydrogen production until we have at least 30% of the national electricity production from renewable sources. For this reason, the Government is promoting the largest penetration of renewable energies in the last decade, an example of which are the renewable energy purchase contracts for more than 600 MW that we have signed in the last year”, he explained.
Minister Almonte unveiled the results of a prospective study that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) conducted with the cooperation of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the company Det Norske Veritas, whose content analyzes the potential application of hydrogen in the industrial, transportation and the Dominican electricity industry, its production cost and the challenges that the country must face to incorporate its production and use.
“To cite an example, there is no explicit mention of hydrogen in the hydrocarbon regulations. For this reason, we are working on the establishment of a regulatory framework and some other regulations that should be updated,” he revealed.
Almonte pointed out that the government headed by Luis Abinader has made a great contribution to the reduction of the negative effects produced by fossil fuel energies, being part of the vision of energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
“Each megawatt of solar or wind energy that comes into operation is the displacement of other megawatts that are produced with fuels that harm the environment,” said the Minister of Energy and Mines.
He pointed out that, although there is currently no local hydrogen production, the two turbines of the plants that will generate 800 megawatts with natural gas, with a gas terminal in Manzanillo, in Montecristi, are enabled to eventually work with hydrogen in a significant proportion.
“This means that the Dominican Republic is already introducing the technology that would put the country in a leading position in terms of using hydrogen fuels to produce electricity,” the official emphasized.
During his speech, Almonte was accompanied by Mr. Miguel Peña, mining advisor to the Executive Power; Rafael Gómez, vice-minister of Energy; Rolando Muñoz, general director of Mining and Gustavo Mejía-Ricart, director of International Relations of the MEM.
