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Originally Posted by J D Sauser
... I am failry convinced that the DR should move agressively towards a total hydraulic solution, having several dams built and operated under a limited time liscense by the building companies or a foreign insvestor consortium to supply 100% of the needed power. ... ... J-D.
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Pipe dreams! you can't get private capital markets interested in such ventures. In the DR, dams and hydraulic energy are not cost effective. The initial high capital outlay and the low average hydraulic head from seasonal draught conditions (most current hydraulic plants in the DR sometimes work at less than 15% design production capacity for many months during the year) make for negative return. Currently, you can't get international public lenders (e.g., World Bank, IBRD, etc.) interested in these project, and going the route of a public bond issue, impossible.