At 1EnergyWorld, Edy Jimenez Toribio, Chief Commercial Officer of AES Dominicana, presents a measured and incisive perspective on how the Caribbean region advances a complex but necessary energy transition. In his session, “Advancing the Energy Transition in the Caribbean,” Jimenez offers a detailed examination of how the Dominican Republic and its neighbors move from legacy fuel systems toward a diversified and integrated energy portfolio—driven by technology, investment, and institutional reform.
Jimenez articulates a clear position: the Caribbean does not wait for global solutions to arrive—it develops and implements its own. With careful planning and disciplined execution, the region demonstrates how strategic infrastructure investments, balanced technology integration, and regulatory modernization can collectively establish a robust and future-ready energy system.
Energy Systems in Transition: Challenges of Scale and Structure
Caribbean energy markets share several defining characteristics: limited system scale, high reliance on imported fuels, and non-interconnected grids. These structural realities constrain traditional pathways to cost reduction and system redundancy. “We operate in energy systems that are isolated and relatively small in scale,” Jimenez notes. “This creates unique requirements when designing and deploying modern infrastructure.”
Rather than viewing these characteristics as impediments, Jimenez reframes them as conditions requiring targeted solutions—solutions that prioritize flexibility, adaptability, and long-term competitiveness.
The Dominican Republic: A Reference Model for Regional Transformation
The Dominican Republic emerges as a central case study in Jimenez’s presentation. Over the past two decades, the country reduces its reliance on oil-fired generation from 85% to under 15%. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) now accounts for more than 40% of the national energy matrix. This transition has resulted in improved cost stability, enhanced reliability, and more than $3 billion in cumulative savings.
AES Dominicana plays a pivotal role in this transformation. With two LNG import terminals and three storage tanks across the Dominican Republic and Panama, AES delivers not only domestic supply but also regional access through inter-island LNG logistics. “From the Dominican Republic, we facilitate LNG supply to markets such as Barbados and Guyana,” Jimenez explains. “This supports a regional architecture for more competitive and flexible energy systems.”
A Structured Framework: Three Reform Phases and a Fourth in Progress
Jimenez outlines a phased approach to energy reform in the Dominican Republic:
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Market Liberalization – Regulatory reform allows private-sector participation in generation and promotes competition.
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Fuel Diversification – Introduction of LNG enables conversion of heavy fuel oil and diesel assets, while supporting downstream expansion in industrial applications.
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Renewable Energy Deployment – A national target of 30% renewables by 2030 accelerates investment in solar and wind, backed by local capital and institutional demand.
The fourth phase now emerging focuses on system integration—ensuring that new assets operate cohesively within a modernized grid. This requires a combination of thermal balancing, large-scale battery storage, digital infrastructure, and updated operational protocols.
The Role of Battery Energy Storage and System Flexibility
Jimenez emphasizes that the rapid deployment of renewable energy must be matched by equally deliberate efforts to ensure operational flexibility. “Renewables offer cost advantages and modularity, but on their own they cannot ensure system stability,” he states. “Battery energy storage enables real-time balancing and facilitates greater integration of intermittent resources.”
He identifies battery storage as the most strategically relevant technology for the region today. Costs have declined substantially, and mature deployment models in other island geographies—such as Hawaii—demonstrate both feasibility and impact. For Caribbean nations, storage provides the operational leverage necessary to transition without compromising reliability or efficiency.
Enabling Conditions: Modern Regulation and Institutional Alignment
Jimenez underscores that regulatory frameworks must keep pace with evolving technologies and capital markets. Many Caribbean and Latin American energy regulations date back two or three decades and are not designed for current deployment models.
“Outdated permitting processes and regulatory misalignment delay execution,” he says. “Most infrastructure gaps are not due to lack of strategy but to insufficient implementation mechanisms.”
He calls for three priority actions:
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Establish streamlined permitting for strategic infrastructure projects
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Create regulatory incentives aligned with long-term system needs
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Institutionalize public-private partnerships to accelerate project delivery
These steps, he argues, are essential for unlocking the next stage of infrastructure deployment and for aligning private capital with national energy objectives.
Market-Driven Momentum: Corporate Demand and Renewable Procurement
Corporate offtakers increasingly shape the pace and structure of energy investment in the region. Multinational firms operating in Caribbean manufacturing and logistics hubs seek access to low-emissions energy as part of broader environmental and operational requirements. This creates a consistent demand signal for renewable project development.
AES Dominicana addresses this demand through customized power purchase agreements that meet global standards for sustainability and transparency. For three consecutive years, AES has been recognized by Bloomberg New Energy Finance as the world’s leading corporate supplier of renewable energy. “These offtake agreements are essential for de-risking projects and enabling long-term infrastructure planning,” Jimenez says.
A Model for Targeted, High-Impact Transition
Jimenez’s presentation reflects a disciplined approach to energy transition—one that prioritizes system-level outcomes, realistic pathways, and institutional effectiveness. He outlines five strategic pillars for the Caribbean:
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Diversify the energy matrix through LNG to ensure flexibility and improve competitiveness
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Expand renewable generation at utility scale to meet economic and environmental goals
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Deploy battery storage strategically to enhance integration and system stability
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Update regulatory frameworks to reflect modern market conditions
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Leverage industrial and corporate demand to drive sustainable infrastructure growth
By anchoring his analysis in real-world results, Jimenez positions the Dominican Republic—and the broader Caribbean region—not as peripheral actors in global energy markets, but as strategically oriented systems capable of navigating complexity and delivering measurable progress.
The Caribbean energy transition, as articulated by Jimenez, is not an aspirational concept—it is an operational reality. It advances through precise planning, institutional coordination, and sustained commitment to long-term value creation. As global energy systems become more distributed, decentralized, and dynamic, the Caribbean offers a reference point for how regions of similar scale and structure can move from dependence to design.
