DP&L lends helping hand to Puerto Rico with battery power

The category-five Hurricane Maria that ripped through the Atlantic in September seems like a distant memory to many now, but in Puerto Rico it’s still an everyday reality.

Many Puerto Rico communities are still without power following the devastation brought by Hurricane Maria and full restoration may not happen until spring of 2018.

That’s why Dayton Power and Light and its parent company, AES Corp., are helping efforts to rebuild the Puerto Rico electric grid.

Six battery-based energy storage units from the AES Ohio Generation Tait Energy Battery Storage Station in Dayton are being loaded on trucks this week and will be shipped to Puerto Rico.

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“Together we share a mission to improve lives and today Puerto Rico needs our help,” DP&L spokeswoman Mary Ann Kabel said.

AES Energy Storage’s solutions are designed for longevity and flexibility. Battery-based energy storage has the potential to enable communities in Puerto Rico to recover faster from extreme weather and reduce energy costs and emissions on the island’s electric grid, Kabel said.

The 40,000 pound containers are being moved by a crane onto semi-trucks and are being transported to the island.

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The containers should arrive in Puerto Rico some time in January depending on the weather, Kabel said.

Prior to arriving in Dayton in 2013, the battery-based energy storage was located in Johnson City, New York. DP&L was the first utility in Ohio to incorporate battery-based energy storage technology.

Six megawatts of energy-based battery storage are included in the move. One megawatt can power 1,300 Dayton-areas homes with the average use of 750 kilowatts per hour, Kabel said.

This move has been in planning for the past couple of weeks.

Not only will battery-based energy storage help Puerto Rico, Kabel said, but it will improve the grid, making it safer, more reliable and more resilient.

“We’re committed to both immediate recovery and long term stability of their grid,” Kabel said. “Incorporating advanced technologies like battery-based energy storage will provide the island with safe, reliable and higher-quality power and a more resilient grid.”