Half-way through a two-year federal government study, called PR100, researchers concluded the island has significantly more renewable energy potential and that the expansion of distributed generation would solve many or the power distribution problems the island currently faces.

“We were able to prove that these systems are resilient to hurricane winds, and they can provide pretty fast power, within hours after a storm,” says Agustín Carbó, Director of the Department of Energy’s Puerto Rico Grid Modernization and Recovery Team. He says the current system of fewer, centralized and larger power plants takes longer to restore electricity across the island, especially in remote and mountainous regions.

Last year the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, began studying options to transition the island to 100% renewable energy by 2050. The goal is to build an electricity system that is more resilient against future storms.