Tesla’s Elon Musk says he can rebuild Puerto Rico’s power infrastructure with solar energy
Power is yet to be restored in most parts of the island, weeks after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
Tesla founder Elon Musk on Thursday said that Puerto Rico’s electrical infrastructure, which has been shattered by Hurricane Maria, can be rebuilt with his solar energy technology, BBC reported. Power is yet to be restored in most parts of the island, weeks after it was devastated by the storm.
Musk said on Twitter that the Tesla team has set up the technology in many smaller islands, and that it could be scaled up to work for Puerto Rico too. He, however, added that such a project would need the support of the island.
The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt, PUC, any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 5, 2017
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello responded to Musk’s message, saying “Let’s talk”. “Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your Tesla technologies? Puerto Rico could be that flagship project,” he said on Twitter.
@elonMusk Let's talk. Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project. https://t.co/McnHKwisqc
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) October 6, 2017
Hurricane Maria was the second major storm to hit Puerto Rico in a month. Almost 80% of the power lines were still down, the island’s electricity utility Prepa had said last week. Governor Rossello had said Maria was the “most devastating storm to hit the island this century, if not in modern history”.
