Puerto Rico budgets US$236mn for power generation in 2023

Puerto Rico power utility PREPA’s 2023 power generation budget reaches US$236mn, down US$12.6mn from this year.

The bulk of planned spend is for “necessary” maintenance (US$99mn, see table below) and labor expenses (US$87.5mn), followed by non-labor expenses (US$59.3mn), according to information released by energy regulator PREB.

PREPA highlights that the maintenance budget is composed primarily of repair related costs for "critical" infrastructure, the majority for projects at units 5 and 6 of the San Juan combined cycle power plant.

The utility said these two units – each with a nameplate capacity of 220MW – are forecast to supply 28.7% of electricity in 2023.

“The projects included in PREPA’s final proposal were prioritized and selected with the strategic objective of preventing further performance degradation and improving reliability and available capacity while a private operator is selected and onboarded, and new generation capacity is contracted, built and integrated into the electric grid,” PREPA added.

The budget was discussed with the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMB), the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) and Luma Energy, and revised and adjusted by FOMB.

Also read Puerto Rico requires up to 500MW of emergency power supply

PRIVATE OPERATOR

Meanwhile, local paper El Vocero reported that Genera PR, formerly known as Encanto Power and comprised of NFR Energía, Peak Energy and Black & Veatch, would be the "preferred proponent" to manage PREPA's generation assets.

Seven other groups had qualified in the call: NAES, NRG Energy Services Group, ProEnergy Services, Siemens Energy, Empresa Generadora de Electricidad Haina, EthosEnergy Group and EcoEléctrica, previous reports said.

Fermín Fontanés, the director of P3A (AAPP in Spanish), which began the selection process in 2020, told BNamericas in a written statement:

"The public-private partnership project for the operation of the generating fleet of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) continues. At this time, the Authority for Public-Private Partnerships (AAPP) is in the negotiation stage.

As we have repeatedly stated, by virtue of the Public-Private Partnerships Law (Law No. 29-2009), the information related to the evaluation, selection, negotiation and award process of the proposals is kept under confidentiality parameters. In compliance with this, the AAPP has not disclosed the names of the companies that compete in the process, nor of a preferred proponent.

Once this process is completed, the AAPP will announce the final selection, and will make this information public and available."