Given the increase in waste disposal in the Dominican Republic , discussions are beginning within the sector about a possible economic solution for the affected projects.
“What is believed may happen is that the regulator will allow those who have curtailment to have that energy valued at the spot price,” Rafael Velazco , a consultant for the Dominican electricity market, explained to Energía Estratégica .
Consequently, the proposed mechanism would not use the price of supply contracts as a reference point. This would allow generators to recover some of their lost revenue.
The alternative is still informal. Velazco clarified that there is still no official decision on the matter. “This has been circulating for a couple of months; it’s one of the options,” he noted, adding that the possibility “has already been discussed and widely shared.”
In that sense, the records of the Coordinating Body (OC) show the scale that the phenomenon reached during 2026.
Between January and April, the daily average of available renewable energy generation that could not be fed into the National Interconnected Electric System (SENI) was around 14% . On January 18, a 40% reduction was recorded, while on March 15, the figure reached 35.5%.
March saw approximately 107.83 GWh of renewable energy fed into the grid. June recorded another 58.42 GWh , and in July the volume rose again to around 85 GWh , more than eight times the 10.52 GWh of the same month in 2025.
Recent developments, however, also show that the problem is not solely due to the volume of available renewable generation. In September, the National Interconnected System (SENI) achieved a record integration of 1,390 MW of solar power without any outflows .
This precedent demonstrates that the system can absorb very high peaks of photovoltaics when certain operating conditions coincide, and shifts the debate from the amount of renewables installed to the capacity of the grid to manage them consistently.
The impact is already reaching the projects
For Velazco, the restrictions are starting to directly impact developers' revenue.
“There are many projects that are experiencing financial losses and we are looking for a solution,” he stated.
He then added: “There is a lot of pressure with contracts that are losing money.”
The problem arises when a power plant has the resource and is able to produce, but an operational restriction prevents it from putting all that electricity into the grid.
The possibility of recognizing part of that energy at the spot price aims precisely to cushion that impact while the limitations of the system persist.
Velazco, for his part, attributes the spills to a combination of restrictions.
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“There are times of day when all thermal and renewable generation cannot fit into the grids,” he summarized.
Added to this are the technical minimums of conventional power plants, which limit how much they can reduce their production.
"Thermal power plants have a minimum technical level below which the operation cannot be reduced because it affects the equipment and its useful life," he said.
In other words, the problem depends not only on expanding lines, but also on having greater capacity to adjust generation and move energy between different times of the day.
BESS and transmission, the main answers
The Dominican Electricity Transmission Company (ETED) is moving forward with a program to incorporate up to 600 MW / 1200 MWh of battery storage , through private investment.
The goal is to increase capacity to absorb surpluses, displace energy, and provide greater stability to the National Interconnected System (SENI).
This is in addition to investments exceeding RD$22 billion in transmission infrastructure , with new lines and expansions in different parts of the country.
In September, the company also made progress with a project to install STATCOM in four strategic locations , aimed at improving voltage control and grid stability.
The three lines of action respond to different problems: batteries allow energy to be displaced, the works expand transport capacity and the STATCOMs reinforce dynamic voltage control.
Flexibility now comes at a price.
The regulatory framework also began to provide economic recognition for some services that require a matrix with a greater renewable energy share.
Resolution SIE-015-2026-MEM established a base incentive of USD 22,129/MWh for primary frequency regulation and USD 27,992/MWh for secondary regulation for BESS systems. For thermal and hydroelectric generators, the base value was set at USD 12,682/MWh .
In other words, the Dominican Republic already has mechanisms in place to reward certain contributions to the stability of the system.
What remains open is the treatment of renewable energy that is left off the grid due to an operational constraint.
That's where the alternative mentioned by Velazco comes in: to compensate for part of those cuts by taking the spot price as a reference.
The eventual measure would not resolve the physical limitations of the SENI, but it would open an economic response while investments in storage, transmission and network control advance.