Description

The Dominican Republic scored 1.16 to finish 24th among the 55 Climatescope 2014 nations. Compared to 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries, the Dominican Republic ranked 10th.

The island nation performed very well on Enabling Framework, Parameter I, in recognition of its range of renewable energy policies and incentives. It was somewhat weaker on Clean Energy Investment, Parameter II, and Clean Energy Value Chains, Parameter III, reflecting the low level of renewable energy investment in 2013 and its limited network of clean energy service providers.

The island nation’s electricity grid has a mix of power sources, with 91% of its 3GW total made up of natural gas (690MW), large hydro (380MW), coal (314MW) and oil and diesel (1.7GW). Clean energy accounts for the remaining 9% in the form of wind (85MW) and small hydro (223MW). The government has set an ambitious target to get 10% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2015, raising it to 25% by 2020. In addition, it set a target to reduce GHG emissions by 50% below 2010 levels by 2050. Looking ahead, more will have to be accomplished to achieve the country’s ambitious targets.