By: Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, June 9, 2022
Authorities of the Puerto Rico Solar Energy and Storage Association (SESA) met last week with the executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), Ing. Josué Colón Ortiz, in order to accelerate the incorporation of renewable energies.
Although it was the first time that the director of PREPA participated in this type of meeting with the SESA union, it was not only a presentation meeting for this executive and he was able to share his position on central issues to increase the participation of renewables in Puerto Rico’s energy matrix.
Among them, the Virtual Power Plants (VPP, according to its acronym in English, refers to Virtual Power Plants) were at the center of the dialogue. According to Javier Rúa-Jovet, director of public policies at SESA, there are solutions that, far from being experimental, are already ready-to-implement technologies.
“In Puerto Rico there are about 300 MW of batteries behind the meter deployed,” said SESA’s reference to Strategic Energy, indicating the potential to grow even more in this segment and take advantage of them as support for the electrical system through VPP.
Regarding the Requests for Proposals (RFP), the Energy Bureau had ordered the procurement of 150 MW of VPP within the framework of “tranche 1”. However, it still remains to announce the signing of a contract with projects offered and accepted in that first process.
“It seems to us that there are two proposals for Virtual Power Plants that are alive out there,” considered Javier Rúa-Jovet, about those who offered VPP and who could still continue in the race to sign contracts.
On the private sector side, the desire is for the first 150 MW or more to be approved, within the course of this year and before continuing with new RFPs that add even more projects.
On PREPA’s side, Josué A. Colón Ortiz expressed his alignment with the idea of advancing with those solutions that allow expanding the participation of renewable energies, but he did not specify how many would be promoted this year.
“On the subject of virtual power plants, I find him very open to experimenting with the idea. However, PREPA staff seem to want to go ahead, but with fewer numbers. They would not be talking about 150 MW but rather minor pilot projects”, considered Rúa-Jovet. And he warned: “That clashes with the mandate of the Energy Bureau, so we have to see how it is resolved.”
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