The U.S. Dept. of Energy will provide up to $365 million to four teams building solar and battery energy storage systems at multi-family housing properties and community health care facilities in Puerto Rico, officials announced Dec. 12.
Energy Dept. officials expect to award up to $190 million from the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund’s Programa de Comunidades Resilientes for projects at public housing or privately owned multi-family properties subsidized by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. A team led by Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration is negotiating for an award of up to $83.2 million from the Energy Dept., and a team led by Dynamic Solar Solutions is negotiating for up to $107.3 million.
Another $175 million is available for projects that are community health care facilities. DOE officials selected a team led by Hispanic Federation Inc. for up to $58.3 million and another team led by Dynamic Solar Solutions for up to $116.2 million.
The selected teams already have a presence in Puerto Rico. Each will coordinate development of projects at more than 100 properties.
An Energy Dept. representative said project details will not be available until after award negotiations have been finalized.
DOE's Grid Deployment Office launched the $1-billion fund last year to strengthen Puerto Rico's power grid after 2017’s Hurricane Maria and other natural disasters on top of chronic underinvestment left it in an unreliable state. The fund is focused on increasing the resilience of the territory’s power grid and helping it meet all of its energy needs using renewable energy by 2050.
“Solar and battery storage is critical to this strategy, and thanks to the innovative Programa de Comunidades Resilientes, families will have expanded access to critical services and reliable electricity when and where they need it most,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
Solar Tariffs
The announcement came a day after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced tariff increases on solar wafers and other solar equipment materials from China starting Jan. 1.
Tariffs on solar wafers and polysilicon will increase to 50%, and tariffs on certain tungsten products will increase to 25%.
“These actions will complement the domestic investments made under the Biden-Harris administration to promote a clean energy economy, while increasing the resilience of critical supply chains,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
