The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $325 million funding opportunity to increase access to electricity for vulnerable populations in Puerto Rico.

The new Community Resilience Program, funded by the second tranche of the U.S. Department of Energy's Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF), will provide funding for community healthcare facilities, as well as solar energy and battery storage facilities in community centers and other common areas within public housing and privately subsidized multifamily dwellings.

DOE expects to allocate between $70 million and $140 million to fund solar and energy storage installations at federally qualified medical centers, dialysis centers, and diagnostic and treatment centers.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are expected to provide between $93 million and $185 million in subsidies for solar and energy storage installations in multifamily housing. The application deadline for this grant is October 22, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

After the island of Puerto Rico experienced devastating hurricanes and decades of under-investment in the electric grid, the U.S. government launched a $1 billion funding program called PR-ERF to support residential solar and energy storage projects in Puerto Rico. In July, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the first installation of subsidized residential solar and energy storage systems through PR-ERF's Programa Acceso solar.

As of April of this year, Puerto Rico's distributed solar capacity had reached 842 MW, while residential energy storage had reached 1.6 GWH. Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie predicts that more than 90% of Puerto Rico's solar additions over the next decade will be distributed solar.

Puerto Rico's Act 17 calls for 40 percent renewable energy generation by 2025, 60 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uyTrJ6h43of4G6eLi1lcnA