Last Saturday marked the beginning of a new era for several communities in the municipality of Higüey, La Altagracia province, with the electrification of homes and the implementation of submersible pumps powered by solar panels, through projects that will provide clean energy for the essential and productive activities of the inhabitants.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Almonte, led this initiative that will benefit 260 residents in Chácaro, El Aguacate and El Valle de los Algarrobos, whose homes were electrified with an investment of DR 2.9 million.
“The fight against poverty, inequality and injustice includes providing communities with services that are already vital today and are almost a human right, and one of these is the electrical service that these communities already have,” said Almonte.
According to the technical sheet, photovoltaic panels with a total power of 10,395 KWp were installed for 27 homes in El Aguacate and El Valle de los Algarrobos, together with their corresponding inverters, batteries, regulators and photovoltaic solar lamps. In Chácaro, a power of 9,625 KWp was installed for 25 homes, with the same amount of solar panels, batteries, inverters, regulators and solar photovoltaic lamps.
In addition, nine wells were electrified with green energy, for a total capacity of 29.26 KWp, in localities such as Jina Jaragua, Chinchin, Amacey I, Casa Sombra, La Cruz and El Aguacate, benefiting 775 residents. The work represented an investment of DR 3.8 million.
An extension of electrical networks was also inaugurated in Andres, Boca Chica, including the rehabilitation and extension of networks in La Altagracia and Los Tanquecitos. This extension consists of five 1,500 meter poles of medium voltage, with a 37.5 KVA transformer. A total of 52 connections and seven 250 W LED lamps were installed, at a total cost of DR 1.2 million.
Severa Rodríguez, a resident of Jina Jaragua, expressed her gratitude for the electrification project, even though she saw it as an unattainable dream.
“Before, to drink cold water, we had to go to Higüey to buy ice. Now, we can have a refrigerator or turn on a radio without any problem because the sunlight provides us with energy and we have to be grateful for that,” said Rodríguez.
Likewise, Lucas Guerrero thanked on behalf of the community the support provided by the authorities in this initiative that opens a range of options for the implementation of businesses, simply by the fact of having a neuralgic resource for the advancement of the communities, such as energy.
“We went from darkness to light. Our lives changed for the better and that of our families. We, the old people who were born and raised in a town without the bare minimum, today we are witnesses of something we never thought would happen,” Guerrero said.
The minister said that President Luis Abinader and the government team, especially in the energy sector, are committed to extending the supply of electricity to all rural and suburban communities that lack this service. He also informed that this effort is also aimed at improving the precarious conditions in which some communities have electricity, strengthening and expanding the capacity of their services through projects such as this one.
Among the figures present at this event were Rafael Gómez, Vice-Minister of Energy; Francisco Cornelio, Director of Rural and Suburban Electrification (DERS); Santiago Zorrilla, Senator of El Seibo; Beatriz Zorrilla, who attended on behalf of the Senator of La Altagracia, Virgilio Cedano, and Máximo Aristy, Coordinator of Higüey and member of the External Sector. Also in attendance were mayors Bernardo Cedano, from Chácaro; Pastor Castillo, from Jina Jaragua, and Danilo Antonio Cedano, from Los Algarrobos.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
