Puerto Rico plans first virtual power plant, using 7,000 homes
After Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico on September 18, millions of residents were left without power for days and even weeks as the island’s electricity grid failed again. Homes and businesses with rooftop solar arrays and battery storage systems, on the other hand, were able to keep their lights on and power crucial medical equipment in the storm’s aftermath.
A new project announced on Tuesday aims to bridge the gap between those who can access the benefits of solar-plus-battery systems and those who can’t do so directly.
More than 7,000 homes equipped with solar panels and batteries will form the U.S. territory’s first virtual power plant — a sprawling network of systems remotely connected and controlled using software and digital communications tools. Sunrun is developing the 17-megawatt system, which is meant to reduce power interruptions and fluctuations on the primary electric grid that serves the wider population.
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the state-run utility, selected Sunrun’s proposal for a virtual power plant late last month as part of a slow-moving regulatory process launched in the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. That deadly disaster destroyed the island’s electric grid and left some residents without power for more than a year. Roughly 55,000 rooftop solar arrays with backup battery systems are now installed across the island.
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