Business View Caribbean | Feb 2019

BONAIRE AIMS TO BE THE FIRST RENEWABLE ISLAND RELYING ONWIND AND SOLAR T he technology company Wärtsilä has been awarded an integrated 6 MW energy stor- age project contract for the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) hybrid energy project includes both the hardware, consisting of bat- teries and inverters, as well as GEMS, the energy management software from Greensmith Energy, a Wärtsilä company. The energy storage system will enable Bonaire, part of the Netherlands Antilles, to increase its use of renewable energy such as wind and so- lar. In order to integrate more renewable energy and its intermittent nature, the Wärtsilä energy storage solution will provide the grid stability and reliability required for the island. The en- ergy storage solution will also prevent situations where generation from renewable sources would otherwise have to be curtailed. The project will integrate multiple generation assets including all of the island’s existing power generation assets, energy storage, wind, and solar. GEMS software will control the island grid of Bonaire, an island of 19,000 inhabitants.Work on the Wärtsilä EPC project has commenced, and final completion is expected in April 2019. “Wärtsilä was the best choice to realize inte- grated and optimized multiple generation assets. OPENING LINES 12