The U.S. Department of Energy said Friday it was setting aside $1.2 billion in federal funds to help finance renewable energy projects in Puerto Rico to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels.
The funding includes the closing of a $585 million loan guarantee to finance a 100-megawatt system of solar panels in four cities — Ponce, Caguas, Coamo and Peñuelas. The system is planned to include a 55-megawatt battery energy storage system.
The U.S. agency also offered two conditional commitments for a loan guarantee of more than $489 million for three-battery energy storage systems for the towns of Arecibo and Santa Isabel, and another loan guarantee of more than $133 million for a 32-megawatt solar panels system in the town of Yabucoa.