Largest' wind farm in Caribbean begins production
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.
Carl Dombek is senior for TransmissionHub, a unit of
Energy Central
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