Powering sustainable energy transitions in the Caribbean: Roatan, Honduras
Wärtsilä, an energy company, has closely cooperated with Roatan Electric Company to deliver a modern, low-emissions LPG-fueled power plant to the island of Roatan, Honduras. This plant has prepared the Roatan hybrid power system for the future large-scale integration of renewably sourced energy generation10.
For this project, Roatan Electric Company evaluated LPG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and decided to use LPG due to its easy portability: LPG (in contrast to LNG) can be stored in industry standard pressurised bullet tanks, avoiding the complex and costly cryogenic storage infrastructure required for LNG.
Furthermore, the worldwide fleet of small-sized pressurised LPG tankers is large, and existing vessels can be used for the Roatan trade while at the same time supplying LPG to other consumers in the region.
Andrej Borgmästars, Senior Manager LPG to Power at Wärtsilä Energy Solutions, says the following regarding the benefits of LPG for the Caribbean region: ”At Wärtsilä, we believe that LPG is an excellent fuel, not only for the Caribbean and Central America where we already have LPG plants in operation, but for any site that needs clean energy and does not have access to pipeline natural gas. Furthermore, thanks to the flexibility of our LPG power plants, they represent the optimal solution allowing for the integration of renewable energy generation into any power system.”
LPG also increases energy security and reliability for the Caribbean island. This improvement to the energy infrastructure will help to generate faster local economic development.