Borrego plans to build 3 solar energy projects
Borrego Solar’s project list includes the Sierra Community College District in California.
California-based Borrego Solar Systems Inc. plans to enter Puerto Rico’s renewable energy market through a pair of solar-powered projects to produce more than 23 megawatts of power, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The projects could represent about $100 million in investments, Juan Rodríguez, a senior project manager and professional engineer with the company said.
The sites for the future solar parks were not disclosed.
The company plans to build two of the projects — to produce 2.3 MW and 1.2 MW of power — over the next 12 months, and a third one in 2014 to produce 20 MW, Alex Sarly, senior project developer told Bloomberg.
Borrego Solar, which has designed and built more than 1,000 solar energy systems in the U.S. mainland, is looking to capitalize on renewable energy subsidies available in Puerto Rico, where it has been doing business since 2011. It is also looking to benefit from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s net-metering policy, he said.
“There’s very strong potential for solar here in Puerto Rico for a number of reasons, not least the new net metering rules,” Sarly told Bloomberg. “It also benefits from a very high cost of power, which is a function of it being an island grid with about 70 percent of generation from oil.”
PREPA’s net-metering system benefit solar farms that produce more than 5 MW, which can also seek reimbursements for as much as half of the cost of a project.
Over the past three years, Puerto Rico has become home to several large-scale renewable energy projects using both solar and wind power.
