A wind generation facility that its producer, Pattern Energy,
calls the largest wind generation facility in the Caribbean began
producing energy on the island of Puerto Rico Oct. 28.
The company’s Finca de Viento Santa Isabel (FVSI), or St. Isabel
Wind Farm, located on the island’s southern coast about 27
kilometers (16.8 miles) east of the city of Ponce, is the first
commercial-scale wind power project in Puerto Rico and the largest
in the Caribbean, the company said.
The facility began producing energy as Puerto Rico Governor Luis G.
Fortuño officially started operations by energizing the first set of
turbines, a Pattern Energy spokesperson told TransmissionHub Oct.
30.
During the inauguration ceremony, Fortuño called the start of
operations “a giant step forward toward our energy diversification
goals.”
The energy the facility produces will advance the administration’s
commitment to reduce the U.S. territory’s dependence on oil by
diversifying energy sources, according to the governor.
Finca de Viento Santa Isabel is the first wind power project
developed by Pattern Energy in the Caribbean. It is comprised of 44
state-of-the-art Siemens wind turbines with a nameplate capacity of
2.3 MW each, giving the project a total generating capacity of up to
95 MW.
The facility will help the island achieve the current
administration’s aggressive plan to diversify Puerto Rico’s energy
sources. It will also help exceed the goal of generating 12%
renewable energy by 2015, 15% by 2020 and 20% by 2035.
In addition, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)
recently revised its 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and will
purchase the facility’s full 95-MW generating capacity. The increase
from the PPA’s original 75 MW means a greater infusion of clean
energy into Puerto Rico’s grid without an increase to the project
size, according to the Pattern Energy spokesperson.
“Through collaboration with PREPA, we were able to increase the
power generation capacity, helping the island get closer to its
clean energy goals and enhancing the benefits this project will
provide for the generations of Puerto Ricans to come,” Hunter
Armistead, executive director of Pattern Energy, said in a statement
announcing the facility’s dedication.
PREPA also inaugurated the 23.7-MW AES Ilumina solar project in
Guayama, about 36 kilometers (22.4 miles) east of Santa Isabel, on
Oct. 8. Other projects will be completed in the near future,
including Gestamp’s 23-MW wind farm in Punta Lima on the eastern end
of the island.
That project will employ 13 Vestas wind turbines with a nameplate
generating capacity of 1.8 MW each.
Renewable energy projects in operation and under construction in
several areas of the island will generate more than 220 MW of
renewable energy, making Puerto Rico’s system stronger and more
diverse, Josué Colón, PREPA’s executive director, said in a
statement.
“That will help us continue our efforts to lower the energy
production costs on the island,” he added.
“Projects such as this one are not only good for the environment,
they are good for our economy,” said Fortuño.
“Finca de Viento Santa Isabel alone has brought a $250m private
investment into our economy, provided jobs for 350 Puerto
Ricans—almost double of the original projection—and will continue to
generate income and contribute to our local economy for the next 20
years,” the governor added.
To subscribe or visit go to:
http://www.riskcenter.com