Community members and fishermen from Los Negros, Azua province, asked the Government to prevent the placement of more electric barges on the beach of that community, due to the environmental damage they claim they are suffering, due to the large amount of smoke that these emit when they are turned on. The fear arises because fishermen claim to have seen another large barge offshore, which they understand is to be installed alongside those already existing and installed during 2022, 2023 and due to the energy crisis that affected the government in September 2025. At least one of those barges was contracted by the Dominican State until May 2026, so the community understands that the installation should not be extended in that area beyond that time and that contract should not be renewed. In October 2025, the Unified Council of Electricity Distribution Companies (CUED) explained that the arrival of the new electricity generation barge to Puerto Los Negros, in Azua, operated by the Turkish company Karpowership, responds to the low generation reserve facing the national electricity system due to delays in the commissioning of new private plants. “Given the current situation, it was decided to replace the 65-megawatt (MW) barge originally contracted with a 230 MW one, owned by Karpowership, with the purpose of reinforcing the stability of the electricity supply,” he explained. The organization specified that the agreement will be valid for two years, taking into account that the contracts of the two existing barges expire at the end of 2026. With this temporary addition, it seeks to avoid generation deficits during maintenance periods or breakdowns in the plants that make up the National Interconnected Electrical System (SENI).
Recently, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Joel Santos, highlighted the modernity, efficiency, and high performance that characterize the Energía 2000 generating plant, currently under construction in Manzanillo, Pepillo Salcedo municipality, and which will contribute 414 megawatts (MW) to the National Interconnected Electrical System (SENI) once it begins operations during the first part of 2026.
