The latest confirmed initiative supporting the restoration of power in Puerto Rico is the donation of 6MW of batteries from AES, which has suggested microgrids and large-scale solar could be the answer to long term stability issues.
The US island territory has been hit hard by hurricanes over the past few months, leading to controversy regarding various aspects of rebuilding, from Donald Trump’s twitter row with the mayor of the capital San Juan to the award of US$300 million in grid repair contracts to Whitefish Energy, a mostly unknown US company which brought an army of linemen and other subcontractors to Puerto Rico.
Amongst all of this, clean energy and energy storage companies including Tesla, Sonnen and Tabuchi America have been prominent in making equipment donations and contributing time and labour to local efforts. Energy-Storage.News was recently also contacted by PBES (Plan B Energy Storage), a company servicing the marine sector (powering boats), which has branched out into energy storage systems. PBES said it was in discussions with the governments of Puerto Rico and Barbuda “regarding the creation of resilient renewable power plants, using retractable solar panels and battery storage”.
AES chief technology officer Chris Shelton confirmed to Energy-Storage.News recent reports that the company, one of the US’ biggest independent power producers (IPP) and an existing supplier of energy in the island territory, is making its own donation.
“We are in the process of shipping 6MW of transportable batteries in shipping containers to help stabilize renewable facilities and form microgrids where they can have the most impact,” Shelton said.
“Our goal is to deploy these resources where the power is likely to not come back anytime soon because of the damage sustained from the storm.”
According to Shelton, AES, which makes the Advancion grid-scale lithium battery energy storage platform via AES Energy Storage, will determine where the units, thought to be a megawatt each, will be deployed through consultation with regulatory authority PREPA “and other stakeholders”. Shelton said AES is committed to approaching potential communities once identified and working with local leaders.
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