European chambers question Dominican government on renewable energy

Santo Domingo.-European Chambers of Commerce (Eurocamara) president Hans Witsenboer on Wednesdaysaid the country must increase its share of renewable energy to counteract theeffects of climate change, to which the Caribbean nation is highly vulnerable.

He criticized the Dominicangovernment goal to increase the percentage of alternative energy to just 3% in2017 and 5% in 2020, while Europe´s current consumed energy is 25% renewable andraised to 45% by 2030.

“The DominicanRepublic is going very badly on climate change and it´s investing heavily inthe construction of two coal-fired plants that have high pollution footprintwhen they should be using more clean energy sources," the business leadersaid.

He said the countryhas many opportunities to develop projects based on the use of the sun, wind,sea and waste and companies interested in them, but noted that “many things mustchange,” such as the policy of incentives in the Renewable Energy Act.

"There areenough opportunities," Witsenboer told hoy.com.do, accompanied by EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB) Caribbean Regional Office director Rene Perez. Theyannounced the Forum on Climate Change: "Innovation for energy sustainability,"set for October 15 at Sans Souci Terminal.

Financing

Perez said the EIB canlend up to US$80.0 billion per year for various projects, including renewableenergy. Of that figure, the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) receive US $1.0billion, but Dominican Republic has yet to benefit from the lack of governmentcommitment.