Latin America&Caribbean Energy Transition 2025

Energy transition goals: Renewable energy scale-up. Industrial competitiveness. Problem description: Until 2020, the Dominican Republic’s electricity mix relied heavily on imported fossil fuels, creating high costs, price volatility and exposure to global supply shocks. Limited renewables penetration constrained industrial competitiveness and climate ambitions. Solution description: Between 2020 and 2023, the country more than doubled renewables capacity from 555 megawatts (MW) to 1,126 MW, with solar photovoltaic (PV) leading the expansion. This was enabled by regulatory reform (Decree 65-23), which streamlined permitting, enhanced transparency and created incentives for foreign and private capital. Over $1 billion in renewable energy investments were mobilized, positioning the energy sector as a top driver of economic growth, alongside tourism. Enablers used: Regulation and political commitment: Updated Renewable Energy Promotion Act (Decree 65-23), long-term climate targets. Education and human capital: Emerging training and qualification initiatives in operation and maintenance of renewables. Innovation: Strong uptake of utility-scale solar PV, growing pipeline in wind and storage. Financial investments: Over $1 billion in solar and wind capacity, foreign direct investment, concessional finance. Stakeholders involved: –Dominican presidency and ministry of energy and mines. –Private developers and foreign investors. –International financial institutions (e.g. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC)). –Civil society and local communities. –Utility companies and grid operators. Outcomes achieved: –Renewable energy scale-up through doubled generation capacity in three years (103% growth). –Boost in GDP and job creation with over $1 billion in investments through renewables. –Forty-third ranking for Dominican Republic in BNEF Climatescope 2023 (20th among emerging markets; sixth in LAC). Exportable lessons: –Regulatory clarity drives investment: Simplified frameworks and clear signals attract capital at scale. –Solar can deliver fast wins: Utility-scale solar PV can provide rapid deployment and affordability gains. –Clean energy can rival tourism: Framing renewables as an economic growth engine strengthens political buy-in.CASE STUDY 7 Renewables boom in the Dominican Republic (2020-ongoing)56 Energy Transition Readiness: Latin America and the Caribbean 28