Overview

Resources and Consumption

Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean and has a land area of 3,425 square miles, slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island. The island has a population of about 4 million. Puerto Rico experiences a tropical marine climate with little seasonal temperature variation. Agriculture once dominated Puerto Rico’s economy but has been surpassed by a diverse industrial sector, which includes pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, and food products. Tourism is also an important source of income.

Like most Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico relies primarily on external sources of petroleum to meet its energy demand. In 2006, Puerto Rico’s energy intensity was 7,048 Btu per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000 U.S. dollars, lower than the U.S. average of 8,841 Btu per dollar of GDP. (Energy intensity is measured as total primary energy consumption per dollar of GDP.) In the same year, Puerto Rico’s energy consumption per capita was 142 million Btu, below the U.S. average of 335 million Btu.

Petroleum

Puerto Rico has one petroleum refinery, located in Yabucoa on the southeastern tip of the island. It is supplied with crude oil shipped in through Humacao, a port on Puerto Rico’s east coast. A few ports around the island allow for the shipment and distribution of crude oil and a variety of petroleum products, including motor gasoline, residual fuel oil, distillate fuel oil, jet fuel, and other petroleum fuel types.

Natural Gas

Puerto Rico does not produce natural gas. In 2000, Puerto Rico began receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments at the Peñuelas facility located at Guayanilla Bay, on the south coast of the island. The LNG powers the EcoEléctrica generating facility, a 540-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. Natural gas accounts for approximately 5 percent of Puerto Rico’s total energy consumption.

Coal, Electricity, and Renewables

Puerto Rico does not produce coal, and consumes very little of this fuel. In addition to the EcoEléctrica plant, Puerto Rico has seven petroleum-fueled electric power plants, one coal-fired power plant, and six hydropower plants that supply the island’s electricity demand. The Puerto Rico Power Authority operates five petroleum-fired power plants that use residual and distillate fuel oil. In addition, independent power producers operate the EcoEléctrica natural gas plant near Guayanilla Bay and a coal-fired generating plant in Guayama.

The use of renewable energy is growing and the Puerto Rico Power Authority plans on generating more than 20 percent of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2015. Currently, Puerto Rico has 100 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity and, like many Caribbean islands, uses bagasse (sugarcane residue) as a fuel source in its sugar factories. Puerto Rico also plans to build a biorefinery to produce ethanol, primarily from sugarcane and agricultural waste. In 2007, Puerto Rico was the fifth largest solar thermal energy producer among U.S. States and territories.

Wind energy projects are currently being developed to exploit the class 4 wind resources (up to 16.8 miles per hour at 50 meters above ground level) found along Puerto Rico’s northern and eastern coasts and at higher peaks and ridges in the interior of the island. (Wind speeds designated with a class of 3 or higher are suitable for most utility-scale wind turbine applications.) Fifty megawatts of wind energy capacity is under construction and is planned to be operational by August 2012, and two additional wind energy projects are also in development. Other planned or potential renewable energy projects include additions to hydropower capacity, two waste-to-energy plants (to be completed by 2012 and 2013), a 135-megawatt solar project, and a 75-megawatt ocean thermal energy conversion initiative.