By The Star Staff
Puerto Rico Ports Authority Director Joel A. Pizá Batiz announced Tuesday that he and the island’s maritime industry sector have submitted a request for a $40.8 million federal grant for four projects aimed at modernizing and improving the safety, efficiency and reliability of the Port of San Juan (PSJ).
Pizá Batiz said the PSJ plays an essential role in supplying food, fuel and manufactured goods to the people of Puerto Rico, as well as serving as a key point on the maritime route between the Panama Canal and the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, following the public policy of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia to take advantage of all available federal funding opportunities, the request for funds was submitted to the United States Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Puerto Rico Port Infrastructure Development Program by Ports in conjunction with the companies Crowley, Puerto Rico Terminals LLC and Luis Ayala Colón & Sucrs.
“With this request for $40.8 million, we intend to make multiple improvements to modernize and strengthen the security, efficiency, and reliability of the Port of San Juan, through which 80 percent of food is received, along with other important products,” Pizá Batiz said. “This is the fourth request that we have submitted in order to improve the port infrastructure and sea lanes to meet the necessary permanent improvements. Two have been approved and we are waiting for the rest.”
The four projects presented in the proposal include two microgrid projects, one in the container cargo terminal operated by Crowley in Isla Grande, and another in the container cargo terminal in Puerto Nuevo. The purpose is to provide resilience and energy stability during an emergency or blackout, giving business continuity to a critical containerized cargo transportation infrastructure that provides essential supplies for the island’s sustainability, the Ports chief noted.
The project at the Crowley terminal consists of the installation of a 500-kilowatt (KW) generator for normal operations and two 2-megawatt (MW) diesel generators to balance the maximum demand.
The project in Puerto Nuevo consists of the installation of an 8-MW internal combustion engine and 2-MW ultra capacitors/batteries for storage. It also includes a project to improve the pavement of the Puerto Nuevo Terminal to maximize the vertical storage of cargo containers, benefitting the use and safety of some 12 acres of container stacking area. That action would allow for easier and more efficient movement of cargo when emergency efforts are needed.
The fourth project involves improvements to the pavement in the unloading area (Laydown Area) at the Isla Grande Terminal. It involves demolishing and removing an abandoned warehouse building for seven acres of cargo storage, as well as repairing the mooring dolphins used by the three-story barges, thus restoring them for safe and reliable vessel mooring.
Denied