article on suggestions of electricity department
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On Wednesday the Department of Energy (DOE) released a report detailing its vision for rebuilding a resilient energy system in Puerto Rico. It suggested hardening infrastructure, as well as integrating clean energy technologies such as solar and energy storage into the island’s energy portfolio.
The report is intended to assist the island’s government in drafting recovery plans and guiding the use of federal aid. While the DOE recognized that a singular vision for the island’s future must be determined by the Commonwealth, it said its report should serve as a guideline in drafting that plan.
This document is just the latest in a growing group of energy concepts that cropped up after Hurricane Maria disrupted nearly all of the island’s energy infrastructure in September. Like many of them, the DOE report attributed some of the ruin to a lack of maintenance by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
“DOE observed that, generally, PREPA designed the electricity system well, as evidenced by the uncompromised power stations and effective ‘dead end’ structures,” the report reads, but it adds, “It became clear that the system was weakened over time to the point of catastrophic failure.”
According to data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, several measures of PREPA system interruptions were above average and in the third quartile among U.S. utilities.
To prevent a similar situation in the future, the DOE recommended updates to transmission and distribution infrastructure and a reconsideration of generation resources on the island.