Castañer, IREC presents Community Energy Resilience Plan
The plan improves grid reliability with solar energy and efficiency measures.
Residents of Castañer, Puerto Rico, in partnership with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), have introduced a Community Energy Resilience Plan to address energy stability in this remote region located between Adjuntas, Lares, Maricao and Yauco.
The plan outlines strategies for addressing vulnerabilities caused by natural disasters and grid failures, providing a road map for energy resilience in the short, medium and long term.
The plan builds on a solar energy microgrid the community established in May 2022 with IREC and the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña. The community of 5,500) residents ensures uninterrupted electricity for certain establishments and residences during emergencies.
The new plan aims to mitigate ongoing electrical service instability that impacts quality of life. Over the past year, IREC and project partners met monthly with community members, resulting in the formation of the Castañer Energy Resilience Committee, which represents various local sectors.
The committee identified critical needs, focusing on three goals: 1) reducing energy-related vulnerabilities; 2) promoting education on energy and sustainability, fostering collaboration with organizations and government agencies; and 3) improving the reliability of the local power grid.
The plan includes recommendations with specific resources, strategies, technical details and funding options. It also features a study of critical load needs, metrics for implementation success and actions to minimize regional power outages.
“The design of this Community Energy Resilience Plan can serve as a model for prioritizing public funds for transmission and distribution systems to different sectors of Puerto Rico,” said Carlos Velázquez-López, IREC program director.
“The plan was developed through a multisectoral process that integrated community members, public health sectors, state and local government, academia, farmers, nonprofit organizations, business owners, and private citizens,” Velázquez-López said.
“This process helps [LUMA Energy] understand the challenges of this remote community so they can strategically plan to integrate the Castañer microgrid into the electrical system and jointly address the community’s energy stability,” he added.
The Energy Resilience Plan was unveiled during a Solar Energy Fair held at the Plaza de Castañer, where copies were distributed to residents and the mayors of Adjuntas, Lares, Maricao and Yauco.
The initiative is part of the Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Other collaborators include Slipstream Inc., LUMA Energy, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, ACE IoT Solutions, Texas A&M Engineering Experimental Station, and Universidad Católica de Ponce.
