Canadian renewable energy company Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. has awarded a supply contract to Trina Energy Storage Solutions for its planned battery energy storage project at Punta Lima in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. The company announced last week that it executed the agreement for battery energy storage systems (BESS) under Puerto Rico’s Accelerated Storage Addition Program (ASAP), which was created to speed deployment of large-scale batteries alongside existing generation to improve grid resilience and reliability.
The award moves the project from the planning and contractual phase into equipment procurement and implementation, Polaris said. The facility will have a 35.7-megawatt (MW) battery system with eight hours of duration. Under its agreement with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA; AEE in Spanish), it will provide 71.4 MW of storage capability through two four-hour energy delivery blocks.
Polaris estimates total costs of $55 million to $60 million, including the battery system, a medium-voltage transformer, fees and balance-of-plant infrastructure, and plans to pay with cash on hand. The project is expected to contribute about $12.5 million in EBITDA in its first year of operation. Polaris Power US Inc. executed a battery energy storage standard offer agreement with PREPA on June 5, under which it will receive monthly fixed and performance-based payments.
Trina Storage battery containers are scheduled for delivery in March and April 2027, with commercial operations expected in the third quarter of 2027. The agreement runs 20 years from the commercial operation date. Polaris CEO Marc Murnaghan called the contract "a significant milestone." Trina Storage has some 30 gigawatt-hours of projects commissioned or under execution worldwide.