Interstate Renewable Energy Council Seeks RFPs for 5 Resilience Hubs in Puerto Rico
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), a non-profit working to accelerate the adoption of clean energy, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for five energy resilience hubs to be built in Puerto Rico.
Each hub will serve a vulnerable community and include at least 5 kW of photovoltaic generation and a 13 kWh alternating current battery energy storage system (BESS).
The resilience hubs will power critical loads like food and medication refrigeration, phone charging stations, portable batteries and portable medical equipment.
Rethinking energy resilience
Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico’s aged grid infrastructure in 2017, and grid reliability has been an issue ever since.
On New Year’s Eve, and again in mid-April, the entire island was plunged into darkness for days after system failures.
To address its energy woes, the U.S. territory is shifting away from a centralized approach to power and investing heavily in renewable distributed energy resources (DERs). The 2019 Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act put the country on a path to meet 100% of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2050.
Microgrids and virtual power plants look to play a key role in Puerto Rico’s energy future with businesses, homeowners and communities already taking steps to increase electric reliability, even in the face of natural disasters.
In 2024, Eaton, an intelligent power management company, launched a microgrid at its Arecibo manufacturing facility that will deliver 10 GWh of clean energy annually.
In April, maritime transport firm Crowley announced it would install a microgrid powered by liquified natural gas at a key logistics terminal in Puerto Rico.
Informational meeting to be held May 6
The resilience hubs will be funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus and provide free of charge to the communities.
This is the second part of a multi-year commitment from the DOE to fund energy resilience projects in Puerto Rico. IREC installed five similar hubs in 2024.
An informational meeting will be held on May 6 at 1:30 Atlantic Standard Time to discuss the details of the RFP and answer questions. Register for the webinar here.
The RFP, including technical details, timelines and other information can be viewed here.
The proposal submission deadline is May 30. IREC notes that applications written in Spanish are strongly preferred.
