Puerto Rico has faced some of the longest and most disruptive blackouts in the United States. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, residents went months without power, and the island has continued to struggle with outages tied to storms and an aging power grid. A clean energy storage project could make those outages less common.
According to Renewable Energy Magazine, Polaris has filed its Standard Offer Agreement with the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau for a battery system at the Punta Lima Wind Farm. The project is part of Puerto Rico's Accelerated Storage Addition Program, which is focused on adding battery capacity across the island.
"The submission of the SO1 Agreement represents a significant milestone in advancing our energy storage strategy in Puerto Rico. We are proud to support the island's energy resilience goals while leveraging our existing infrastructure at Punta Lima," said Marc Murnaghan, CEO of Polaris, in the Renewable Energy Magazine report. His comments underline how the project is being framed as a way to give Puerto Ricans more consistent access to reliable power.
Once approved, Polaris will build and operate the system and provide grid support in exchange for monthly fixed and performance-based payments. Energy-Storage News reported that the battery system was submitted at 71.4 megawatts, and Polaris is evaluating a possible increase to 80 megawatts, with logistics still pending.
The Department of Energy's PR100 study concluded that adding large-scale storage is essential to Puerto Rico meeting the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 and ending reliance on unreliable dirty energy. Reliable batteries mean fewer days with no refrigeration, air conditioning, or medical equipment — all of which carry serious health and financial risks.
"Renewable energy is making the air and water in our communities cleaner, improving health outcomes for vulnerable groups, like children, and saving Americans up to $77 billion per year in total health costs," according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
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For Puerto Rico, where the stakes of losing power are especially high, projects like Punta Lima show how renewable energy and storage can deliver more dependable electricity, healthier air, and lower costs altogether.
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