Excellent news. But the nay-sayers will state otherwise.

Another step forward.

abc200,
Please do not comment on this. You will only ruin the good news and twist it into something weird

Written by: Atabey,
"Excellent news. But the nay-sayers will state otherwise. "

Great news. A country that has a severe and costly energy shortage now has 19 expensive and inefficient WindMills.......YaaaaaHoooooo!!!

i thought i will never see it,,,,,and nobody steel any money in the process,,i am speechless

a step forward, got to keep marching step by step and eventually we'll get there

Savings and positive externalities... Nice!

Written by: telemeco,
i thought i will never see it,,,,,and nobody steel any money in the process,,i am speechless

How do you know nobody stole any money?

You want positive comments?Here goes:

I am positive that a lot of people got rich from this project.

I am positive that the only thing that LF does well is cutting a ribbon.

And most of all, I am positive that only posters who benefit directly or indirectly from the fiasco that we call government can close their eyes to what is happening here.

This energy is not cheap. Who will maintain the equipment? That is where the real costs are

Take that anti leonel fernandez! Los burros saldran volando lol

I hope they keep up the good work and maybe we can get electricity 24 hours a day

@Atabey.
We could strike gold in the billions of oz. and a few will always find something negative to say about it. We can't argue with pessimists, they'll always see the glass half empty. Let them wallow in their own misery.

This is the way to go. The more DR invests in renewable. the more $$$ stays in the country, not in Chavez's coffers. I'd love to see the day when every watt of electricity is generated without burning one drop of oil.

Written by: Mart1n,

"I hope they keep up the good work and maybe we can get electricity 24 hours a day"

Seriously? From Wind Power?

Can you explain to us how wind power will generate electricity 24 hours a day when there is no wind!

Mr. Anthony.
A wind park isn't built just anywhere. The place needs to have wind blowing constantly. If that were not the case, obviously, it wouldn't make sense to locate one there.
Before a multi-million dollar investment is made, the potential site needs to be monitored to figure the average constant wind speed, thereby estimating the potential wattage generated in a given length of time.
In case you don't know, wind blows day and night and these investors aren't as dumb as you think they may be.
So, to answer your question, Yes, wind power can generate electricity 24/7, as it blows constantly.
the only variable is its speed.

Mr/s. xwill7.
If you were to google how a wind park generates electricity, you'd be surprised to note that maintenance isn't costly at all. There's really not much that can go wrong, as the coils and magnets are factory-sealed and require no servicing at all. Also they are warranted for many years and can be easily replaced if one goes bad.
Usually, the biggest problems come from voltage surges that can damage regulators.
Other than that, the biggest thread comes from Dominicans seeking to steal and sell them for scrap.

RonEvane,
Very informative post, thanks. You will notice that many posters on this forum just blurt out knee-jerk responses without even a tad of knowledge on the subject or even a hint of factual collaboration.

Ms Ronevane,
The maintenance will become costly if not performed on schedule. Have you seen the maintenance on other equipment in DR??? They do not perform maintenance until stuff breaks down.

Also, if you have been in DR as much as I have, you would know that the voltage surges are common and happen alot!

Please do not come in here talking about that all that can break down are the coils and magnets. Wind is not cheaper yet, its cleaner.

Our small town here purchased two wind turbines at $9 million dollar. In the year of operation one has had it's turbine replaced twice and many days the blades are silent. This is after a very costly study to determine the best location. Payback is expected in 12 to 16 years. For the same cost we could have had a natural gas powered one that would triple the output and payback would be 5 years. Sorry it is still the most expensive form of energy. They would be better to follow the Dutch and place vast fields off shore which would have a greater wind source and create habitats for fish. The best fishing in the Gulf of mexico is around the oil platforms

China heads to the Bahamas to build massive US$3.4 billion resort
Luxury hotels, an eco water park, a Jack Nicklaus golf course ... China's investment in the Caribbean is a whopper


Read more: China heads to the Bahamas to build massive US$3.4 billion resort | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com
AND CHINA BUILDS THE BIGGEST HOTELS IN THE BAHAMAS? LOL

HAVE A NICE DAY IN LA-LA LAND.

sweetbabyj,
It seems that Ms. Ronevane must be a wind generator sales person.

What a joke... This person comes here and says that the only thing that breaks down are the coils and magnets. What about when the extreme wind storms hit??? Blades will get damaged.

What kind of fantasy world is ronevane living in?

written by anthonyC,

Can you explain to us how wind power will generate electricity 24 hours a day when there is no wind!
I had wind generator and solar panels on my boat and had electricity 24/7 with no problem

The words preventive maintenance are not in the D. R. dictionaries.
I hope this project is successful. It has to bring new jobs for the new technology.

This is great news any way you look at it.

But there may be a problem with the figures.

If it saves the country 700,000 barrels of oil, take oil at $100 /b, then you have a saving of $70 mil in year one. $100 mil to construct? 18 months payback? I don't think it's likely with any alternative energy source.

It would be interesting to know the real figures.

Gents and laddies. Obviously you did not understand what I said. It's beyond me, why you'd insist on being so negative about everything Dominican!
I SAID, wind parks, once they're set to run, need very little maintenance! Don't take my f@#$%ing word for it! Just look it up in Wikipedia or any other source, for Pete's sake! Y'all like to blurt out criticisms without knowing the facts! Stop being dickheads and THINK before you post, coño! estupidos!

You actually believe all that is written in Wiki? lol Anyone can write that info. Sweetbabyj has a real life experience regarding this.

Even if you say that there is low maintenance, who is going to perform it? Stuff does not get looked at until its too late.

Do all of us a favor and stay in the resort area next time that you visit DR my friend.

Listen you, idiot, if you don't trust wiki, then look it up some other place. If you're still not convinced, then look it up on another place! untill you learn something! Apparently that's a difficult undertaking for you! take the blinders off! Sh!!!t.

Wow, your ghetto side really came out.

Why didn't you respond to sweetbabyj???

Right now DR needs the lowest cost energy. Have you ever paid an ekectric bill in DR??? Ask those of us who pay and you will see that this is not the way to go.

http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/marketdata/windpower.asp

How about reading something first?
DR has no natural gas nor oil so what is left?
WIND!
Generators maintenance cost the same, but wind is for FREE!

@sweet.
9million dollars? For two turbines, or is that per each? Or is that the whole set up? Really? Whatever the case, it's nearly impossible to spend that kind of money on turbines, no matter how large they might be. Have you priced them lately?
Typically, a turbine costs about about 1 to 2 K's per kilowatt of rated capacity. Example: a 5kw turbine will sect you back about 10 to 12 thousand dollars. I don't know where you got your information from, but that's nowhere near the 9million dollars you stated as the final cost.
And where is this "small town" you speak of? Is it in the US or DR? Regardless, a wind park is ALWAYS set up only after exhaustive research as to the feasibility of the site, so don't give this BS about "many days the blades are silent" spiel.
"In the first year of operation, one has had its turbine replaced twice" Another BS. Although it is entirely possible that this can happen, it is hightly improbable. Why? because, typically, the gearbox, generator, hub..

...and other components are encased in a "nacelle" or protective casing. They are factory sealed there are no serviceable/replaceable parts. It is counterproductive for the manufacturer to warrant a product that will fail twice in one year as the warranty is anywhere from 5 to 10 years depending on the price of the product and the company that makes it.
In conclusion, Mr/s Sweet, you're either giving us a fish story or you not know of what you speak of.... or both.

Here is one that broke down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3FZtmlHwcA

Pessimists will never be disappointed!

@xwill7,
The trend worldwide is to reduce the dependencies on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. "Based on seven years of data collection on site, the capacity factor of the ["Los Cocos" and "Quilvio Cabrera" wind farms are] anticipated to be 33 percent, which means that they will produce an average of around 11 MW, or just under 100 Gigawatt-hours per year (not accounting for downtime due to maintenance)." These projects, by the private consortium Punta Cana-Macao (CEPM) and EGE-Haina S.A., are estimated to save DR approximately 200,000 barrels of oil a year. Moreover, the cost of wind power production, initial cost and maintenance, are most likely to become cheaper as companies, over the years, develop more efficient turbines. With fossil fuels, the most likely tendency is to become more expensive as it becomes more scarce and/or harder to extract.

Many developed nations are incorporating wind energy to their grids... for example

"Germany's politicians plan to have 20% of the country's energy coming from renewable sources like wind by 2020."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4944046.stm

The province of Ontario, in Canada, has more than 1,300 MW of wind generation capacity...
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/marketdata/windpower.asp

@xwill7,
you said...
"Even if you say that there is low maintenance, who is going to perform it? Stuff does not get looked at until its too late. "

The maintenance will be performed by the respective private companies Punta Cana-Macao (CEPM) and EGE-Haina S.A. The owners of the wind farms.