By PETRA HANNEN From pv magazine

With a capacity of 58 MW, the Caribbean’s largest PV plant has been commissioned in the Dominican Republic. The site was developed, planned and built by German EPC, F&S Solar. It now aims to ramp the project up to 119 MW by next year.

The Montecristi solar farm, located in the north-west of the Dominican Republic, has been commissioned. According to F&S Solar, the site marks the biggest ever built PV plant in the Caribbean, and has a system rating of 58 MW.

In addition to acting as EPC, the company also invested in the project, and provided 35% of the US$87 million required. Germany-based Blue Elephant Energy AG (BEE) provided the remaining 65%, while debt financing was supplied by various European development banks: DEG from Germany, DMO from the Netherlands, and Belgium’s BIO.

For the installation of the 21,000 PV-modules, the EPC cleared two million square meters close to the boarder of Haiti. Overall, it took six months to complete the building process. The generated energy will be sold at a fixed tariff via a 20-year PPA with the state-owned energy supplier.

According to a statement released, Astronergy equipped the project with its PV modules, while Germany’s SMA supplied the inverters, Oliver Oepen GmbH, the cabling, and Schletter, the mounting system.

“It is particularly important to take onboard German partners with whom we have been working together in mutual trust and for an extended period of time,” comments Georg Schmiedel, CEO at F&S Solar. According the EPC, the company runs an office with five employees in the Dominican Republic.

The total capacity of the park will be 119 MW, once completely finished. This is scheduled for next summer.

IMAGE: The total capacity of the park will be 119 MW, once completely finished. Image: F&S Solar