Capitol summit called to resolve clean energy interconnection delays
By THE STAR STAFF
The Government Committee in the island House of Representatives will convene a high‑level meeting this week at the Capitol to address a technical impasse preventing two completed renewable energy projects from connecting to Puerto Rico’s power grid.
Committee chairman Rep. Víctor Parés Otero said the session will bring together executives from Applied Energy Solutions (AES) Puerto Rico and private grid operator LUMA Energy to clarify why the solar‑and‑battery systems in Guayama and Salinas -- together capable of supplying 485 megawatts (MWs) -- remain offline despite being fully built.
Parés noted that roughly 200 MWs come from solar generation and another 285 MWs from industrial‑scale battery storage.
“We’re talking about energy at around 12 cents per kilowatt‑hour, which would reduce the electric bill,” he said. “There is a technical situation preventing integration into Luma’s system, and we are calling this meeting to outline the actions needed to achieve that connection as quickly as possible.”
The projects, inspected last year by House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, Parés and District 30 Rep. Fernando Sanabria Colón, include a 120‑MW solar farm in Salinas and an 80‑MW installation in the Jobos sector of Guayama. AES President Jesús Bolinaga previously confirmed both sites are ready to go online.
Parés said the 285 MW of battery storage -- capable of providing up to four hours of peak‑time support -- would significantly reduce both the frequency and duration of load‑shedding events caused by insufficient generation. The solar capacity would ease daytime demand on Puerto Rico’s aging thermal plants.
The $1.2 billion investment, funded through federal allocations and private capital, generated roughly 900 permanent jobs and boosted local commerce in Guayama and Salinas. The combined projects include more than 1,500 industrial photovoltaic reserve batteries -- 743 in Jobos and over 757 in Salinas.
Legislators say the interconnection delay threatens to stall urgently needed clean‑energy generation at a time when Puerto Rico continues to face reliability challenges across its power system.
Comments