As Puerto Rico struggles with chronic power outages and an aging power grid, federal officials say they believe the U.S. territory, which relies heavily on fossil fuels, can fully transition to clean energy by 2050. This was revealed in a report released Wednesday. .
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Emergency Management Agency says people thought recent legislation requiring Puerto Rico to achieve 40% clean energy by next year and 100% by 2050 was unrealistic. surprised me.
“This transition will be a significant effort and will not happen overnight, but 100% clean energy is 100% possible,” said Agustín Calvo, Puerto Rico’s grid modernization director at the U.S. Department of Energy. .
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Power plants that rely on coal, oil and natural gas currently generate about 97% of Puerto Rico’s electricity, with renewables accounting for just 3%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Emergency Management Agency aim to change that.
As part of the push, officials on Wednesday announced a new federally funded program to subsidize residential rooftop solar and battery storage systems for up to 30,000 low-income households on the island. Eligible homeowners can begin applying by February 22nd.
A two-year study found that Puerto Rico has more than 10 times the renewable energy resources needed to meet the island’s needs by 2050, but new infrastructure capable of generating hundreds of megawatts is needed. .
A stopped traffic light photographed during a power outage in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)
Officials warned that such investments could lead to further price increases on the island, where electricity prices are already much higher than in the mainland United States. Residential rates are 24 cents per kilowatt-hour, while the average rate in the continental United States is 16 cents. Meanwhile, industrial rates are 25 cents per kWh, compared to 8 cents on the mainland.
“A strategic plan is needed to control the impact on interest rates while achieving short-term reliability gains,” the report said.
Interest rate hikes are a particular concern in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has the highest poverty rate of any U.S. state, at more than 40%, and is struggling to attract new investors as it emerges from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The report studying the clean energy transition comes at a critical time.
“Puerto Rico’s current electricity system is complex, isolated, dependent on imported fuel, and vulnerable to extreme weather events and other natural disasters,” the report said.
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The ongoing power outages can be partly blamed on Hurricane Maria, which destroyed the power grid as a powerful Category 4 storm in September 2017, but the problems started much earlier.
“Decades of operational, maintenance, and financial challenges have caused the system to fall far behind accepted reliability levels,” the report said.
The frequency and duration of Puerto Rico’s power outages has worsened in recent years, with customers going an average of 22 hours without an outage last year, according to a report filed with the island’s Energy Department in late January.
The power generation capacity of Puerto Rico’s power plants has also dropped from 52% to 42%, but officials at Genera PR, the power plant’s operation and maintenance company, said this was due to temporary shutdowns of the power plants for maintenance. Ta.
The company said it expects ongoing projects to increase production capacity by up to 60% in the future.
Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid already relies on temporary generators installed last year to reduce the number of outages and allow crews to perform maintenance. An agreement reached with FEMA earlier this month will allow the island government to operate the generators until the end of 2025.
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The grid will soon be supported by a battery energy storage system as part of a recently approved $648 million project funded with federal funds.
