Wartsila to install 10-MW/26-MWh of storage in Honduras

Finnish technology group Wartsila Corp (HEL:WRT1V) has received an order to install a 10-MW/26-MWh energy storage system at an engine power plant on the Honduran island of Roatan in the Caribbean.

The storage solution will be integrated with the power plant, owned by local utility Roatan Electric Company (RECO), and solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in RECO’s system.

Paired with Wartsila's proprietary GEMS energy management software solution, the storage system will provide virtual spinning reserve capacity that needs to be available on the island as its electricity demand continues to rise, Warsila said.

The system will be ready before the end of 2020.

The Finnish company has so far installed around 500 MW of generation capacity in Honduras, including RECO’s 28-MW engine power plant. It forecasts that over 20% of the delivered electricity on the Roatan island will come from renewables by the end of 2021.

RECO itself is building 12.5 MW of solar PV in addition to owning a 26-turbine wind farm, according to Wartsila. The utility has also recently installed a 6-mile (9.66 km) underwater sub-sea cable to expand its distribution network to two nearby islands.

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