RG Engineering lands contract for Cambalache energy storage

By The Star Staff

Genera PR, the private operator of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) legacy power plants, has awarded San Juan firm RG Engineering the contract to install 52 megawatts (MW) of battery energy storage at the Cambalache Power Plant in Arecibo.

RG Engineering, whose offices are in Condado, did not answer requests for comment. The awarding does not mean the firm can start construction as contract terms have to be negotiated and the document must be approved by all regulatory entities.

Any proponent adversely affected by the contract award may submit a written request for reconsideration to Genera PR.

The $45.7 million project will be financed through federal emergency management funds.

The batteries for the project will be provided by Tesla, which in October 2024 got the contract to supply the 430 MW worth of batteries (Tesla Megapack). Installing the battery storage of that capacity was estimated at $767 million. The contract for the batteries was signed by Brad Harbidge, director of Megapack Americas for Tesla, the government and Josué Colón Ortiz, the director of the Public-Private Partnership Authority.

Genera PR currently has an ongoing tender seeking a proponent to install a 40 MW battery energy storage system at a PREPA plant in Yabucoa. The tender, launched March 7, closes on May 15. Another Genera tender seeking to install a 49 MW battery energy storage system at the Vega Baja power plant ends Friday, March 28.