Electricity Grid Enhancement in Puerto Rico by Establishing Renewable-Based Microgrids in Vieques and Culebra Islands

This paper reviews the challenges of operating the electric power grid under extreme weather events and presents the impacts of grid enhancement strategies on Puerto Rico and its two islands of Vieques and Culebra. The paper also provides a detailed analysis for enhancing grid operation by devising utility-scale solar farms to form renewable-based microgrids in Vieques and Culebra Islands. It will also consider the grid hardening as the next strategy for upgrading the grid reliability and resilience indices. The paper provides additional analyses on the possible implications of such enhancement projects in substantiating the quest for curbing the Puerto Rico's extreme weather scenarios.