So what’s next? GREENTECH MEDIA — Last Wednesday, Hurricane Maria passed over Puerto Rico, bringing 140-mile-per-hour winds, pelting rain and extreme flooding. After the storm moved on, Puerto Rico was left with "apocalyptic devastation" and absolutely no power. The island’s utility -- already bankrupt before the storm -- says it will be months before electricity is fully restored. The dire circumstances in Puerto Rico echo similar troubles now enveloping the Caribbean, where hundreds of thousands have been left with no electricity as Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and to some extent, Harvey, pummeled grids this past month, leaving entire islands without electricity. In the wake of the storm, renewable energy advocates have called for investment in distributed grids to avoid the same situation in the future. "The tragedy of Hurricane Irma can be a catalyst for government and utility leaders and people of affected countries...to transform destruction into opportunity -- an opportunity to build back better and cleaner through sustainable, resilient power and transportation systems," wrote analysts at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Indeed, the opportunity for standalone solar and storage -- or hybrid liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel systems paired with PV and storage -- is getting more economically attractive. According to a new analysis of island markets from GTM Research and Wood Mackenzie, hybrid systems are already beating the cost of diesel, and nearing the cost of LNG. Although many Caribbean islands are investing in renewables and experimenting with different kinds of microgrids, most still rely on imported fossil fuels. And it’s as yet unclear whether a distributed grid structure in Puerto Rico would have fared any better during such a drastic storm.
The storms did underscore, though, that climate change will impact these island countries disproportionately -- and power grids will be under increasing threat, whatever the energy mix. “Unfortunately, we had to wait for Irma and Maria to let the world understand what we’ve been saying to them for a long time -- that we are very vulnerable. We are exposed to the ravages of climate change,” said Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, speaking to last week's U.N. Summit. “We need access to resources to build more resilient societies and countries. We have been playing our part, but the extent of the resources required to put in the mitigation systems is beyond us.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
James Ramos,BPII'm your go to solar energy expert here to guide you step-by-step through all of your solar options. Categories |
James The Solar Energy Expert