Is Puerto Rico’s Grid Ready for Hurricane Season?

From our Editorial Team

June 1st marked the opening of Puerto Rico’s hurricane season, but it’s just one of many challenges confronting the island’s electric grid. The year opened with massive earthquakes that shut down the Costa Sur power plant, and then a pandemic upended the market and consumption patterns. Despite, or perhaps because of, these disruptions, the Puerto […]

JPS braces for power disruption from Saharan dust storm

The Saharan Air Layer, also known as Saharan dust, is creating electricity supply issues due to the dust contaminating power production infrastructure. With a second wave of Saharan dust coming this weekend, JPS issues a warning for its utility customers.  “The heavy dust represents an increase in contaminants on the system which can result in […]

Barbados port moves toward “green maritime hub” with hybrid/electric equipment acquisition

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has concluded an agreement to supply Barbados Port Inc (Barbados Port) with four fully electric forklifts and two hybrid straddle carriers for use at the Port of Bridgetown. The Port of Bridgetown is a full-service seaport located in Barbados and managed by Barbados Port Inc. Its marine terminal handles all major […]

Improved regulations can speed up the pace of Caribbean renewable investment

The “biggest roadblock” to the investment in renewable energy projects in the Caribbean are the investor regulations that are in place, Martin Vogt, managing director of German investment and asset management company MPC Capital has said. Vogt made the statement as part of a presentation in the Energy Chamber’s virtual conference during a session titled […]

PREPA Finalizes Contract with EcoEléctrica, Naturgy

José Ortiz, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) announced Monday the signing of its 12-year contract with EcoEléctrica and natural gas supplier Naturgy, with a reported $1.3 billion in savings for the corporation. Highlights of the new contract: Reduces the fixed payment for the energy produced by EcoEléctrica by ~$100 million […]

Puerto Rico Awards T&D Concession

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has reached an agreement for private management of its transmission and distribution system. The Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) and other government entities approved the deal to hire a U.S.-Canadian consortium for operations. Known as LUMA Energy, the consortium is a joint venture between Quanta Services and Canadian […]

Guadeloupe launches three tenders for geothermal energy

The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has launched three tenders on regional geothermal development in Guadeloupe, Caribbean with a planned Caribbean Geothermal Centre of Excellence. Operational implementation of the Caribbean Centre of Excellence in Geothermal, based in Guadeloupe Study of the content and how to implement the training programme provided through the Caribbean […]

Record lows in Bermuda’s power consumption due to solar, storage and energy efficiency

Since peak energy was reached in 2009, residential consumption has fallen by 14 per cent and commercial usage has dropped by 20 per cent, and today Bermuda’s power consumption has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years The reduction meant that Belco’s annual output of energy has dipped below 600 million kilowatt hours for […]