The US Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $1.2 billion in financing to replace Puerto Rico’s fossil fuel plants with solar and battery storage through 2032.
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Puerto Rico kicked off 2025 with a harsh reminder of its fragile power grid. On New Year’s Eve, nearly the entire island – 90% – lost electricity, leaving over 1.3 million customers in the dark during holiday celebrations. Power was restored on January 1, but the blackout underscored an urgent need for reliable energy solutions.
In a move to help bolster Puerto Rico’s grid resilience, Convergent Energy and Power secured a conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office for a massive solar and battery storage initiative in December. The DOE’s backing includes up to $559.4 million in loan guarantees, paving the way for Convergent to install both solar and standalone battery systems across the island.
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Australian company 5B’s modular solar array unfolds like an accordion and is designed to endure extreme weather and harsh environments.
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In today’s EGEB:
Tesla ramped up its effort to help Puerto Rico get power back after its grid was ravaged by hurricanes last month. They quickly started shipping Powerwalls, their home energy storage solution, and we reported that they started shipping Powerpacks, their bigger commercial and utility-scale battery packs, last week.
But Puerto Rico is also looking to rebuild its electric grid longterm and Tesla had its own suggestion about scaling its microgrid technology using batteries and solar power.
A government official now says that they are indeed considering the solution and thinking about launching a competitive bidding process.
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Elon Musk said last week that Tesla would accelerate its effort to help bring power back to Puerto Rico after sending a few hundred Powerwall battery packs to the island where the electric grid was destroyed by hurricanes last month.
Now we learn that Tesla is indeed stepping it up with now a new shipment of Powerpacks.
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As we reported yesterday, Elon Musk brought up the possibility for Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar.
It has now led to the CEO securing a talk directly with the US territory’s Governor who seems more than enthusiastic about the prospect of Tesla having a role to play in the reconstruction of the island’s grid.
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After Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes back to back in just a few weeks, along with other islands in the Caribbean, most of their power grid was completely destroyed. Tesla quickly started quietly shipping Powerwalls there to try to get power back on to some houses with solar arrays.
Now CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar on a bigger scale.
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