Enel X to install 5-MW solar+storage micro-grid for Eaton in Puerto Rico

Global power management solutions provider Eaton Corporation Plc (NYSE:ETN) plans to install a solar-plus-storage micro-grid at its circuit breakers factory in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, in an effort to relieve the grid and ensure that its operations are powered with renewable and resilient energy systems.

The company has partnered with Enel X, the advanced energy services business of Italian electric utility Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL), on the project to integrate close to 5 MW (AC) of solar PV and around 1.1 MW/2.2 MWh of battery storage into the factory’s on-site power generation systems.

Enel X said that it has signed an agreement with Eaton to build, own and operate the micro-grid on the customer’s behalf. Enel X will also finance the project under an energy-as-a-service model, while Eaton will provide installation expertise and key technologies for the micro-grid system.

Once in operation, the solar and storage facility will allow Eaton to produce, store and consume renewable power and also export the energy to the local grid.

The Las Piedras project reunites Enel X and Eaton, which last year stuck an agreement to install a similar solar-plus-storage micro-grid scheme at Eaton’s factory in Arecibo in Puerto Rico.

Both Las Piedras and the Arecibo micro-grid are designed to hurricane code in Puerto Rico and will be capable of withstanding Category 5 strength hurricane-force winds, Enel X said.

By 2022, Eaton's two micro-grids will deliver 10 MW (AC) of solar PV and 2.23 MW/4.46 MWh of battery storage in Puerto Rico.

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