Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar last month announced completion of its largest ever power plant, a 100-megawatt facility representing a total investment of $95 million that will provide power to more than 125,000 homes and businesses in the Dominican Republic.

The plant is owned by the Monte Rio Power Corp., a joint venture between the Paliza-Viyella Group and Caterpillar Power Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc.

The facility was inaugurated at a ceremony in Azua attended by Dominican Republic President Hipolito Mejia, Caterpillar group president Richard Thompson and Monte Rio Power Corp. president Elena Viyella de Paliza. The plant will be maintained and operated under a long-term agreement with Energy International Inc., an affiliate of GECOLSA, the Caterpillar dealer in Colombia.

The Monte Rio power plant will be powered by 13 Caterpillar electric power generation units, each producing 8 megawatts of power. The large engines are manufactured by the Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG (MaK) facility in Rostock-Wamenmude, Germany. Power produced by the new plant will be sold into the Dominican Republic's existing electric power utility grid.

Cat Power Ventures, a major investor in the project, has developed large power plants in India, Cambodia, Poland and Tunisia.