Siemens Proposes Mini-Grids for Puerto Rico’s Electric Power System; Alan Bloodgood Comments

A new white paper from Siemens has recommended the establishment of a series of 10 mini-grids designed to improve the resilience of Puerto Rico’s current energy infrastructure in the event of natural disasters.

Siemens said Monday the proposed mini-grids throughout the U.S. territory will leverage the current energy infrastructure and integrate energy storage and renewable sources that can operate in island and grid-connected modes during hurricanes and other natural disasters.

“This approach is tailored to meet Puerto Rico’s specific needs and would optimize a wide array of resilient energy infrastructure options by lessening reliance on one central power source and shorten the duration of any outages and minimize emergency power restoration costs brought about by natural disasters,” said Alan Bloodgood, senior vice president of energy and infrastructure at Siemens Government Technologies.

The proposed design for mini-grids was introduced in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and seeks to surpass the established goal for renewables penetration by 15 percent.