The United States territory of Puerto Rico is striving towards energy independence, as is much of the world. Increasingly the island is investing in renewable energy projects in order to reduce dependence on greenhouse gas-heavy fuels. Puerto Rico currently has the goal of attaining twelve percent of their electricity needs through renewables by 2015.
In addition to the aforementioned goal, Puerto Rico is also striving to see fifteen percent renewable energy by 2020 and twenty percent by 2035. In order to attain these goals, numerous solar and wind projects have been put into the works, including a major wind farm which recently began production.
The St. Isabel Wind Farm which is located on the southern coast of the island began producing energy during the last week of October. The farm contains forty-four 2.3 megawatt wind turbines, generating a total of ninety-five megawatts of energy. The wind farm is officially the largest wind farm in all of the Caribbean.
In addition to the St. Isabel Wind Farm, a wind farm on the eastern side of the island is currently under construction. This particular farm will have a total of thirteen wind turbines accounting for a total of twenty-three megawatts of energy.
Alongside the wind energy farms, the island of Puerto Rico is also in the midst of constructing a major solar facility. The solar facility is to be located in the southern portion of the island will also be the Caribbean’s largest such facility. The project has cost $265 million and will employ 270,000 solar panels. A total of 13,000 homes will be able to be powered by the facility. Officials involved in the project indicate that 236 million barrels of petroleum will be eliminated per year due to the facility. In addition, 217 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated through the use of the solar facility.