Footprint's CGI Commitment to Action: Renewable Energy for Disaster Innovation in Vieques

In 2019, Footprint Project committed to design and fund a containerized emergency command center for the Vieques Emergency Management Office, to be powered by solar and storage and located at the primary community emergency shelter for the island. Since Hurricane Maria severed the undersea electrical cable connecting Vieques to Puerto Rico’s main grid, the island has faced significant energy vulnerability. The Vieques Emergency Management Office (OMME) serves as the dispatch center, ambulance bay, emergency planning, operations, and coordination center for the island. The new emergency command center will feature resilient 20kW solar array and a 20 kWh battery bank to power essential loads including radio dispatch, communications, refrigeration, and lighting. The containerized solar plus storage solution will be located at the primary community emergency shelter in Vieques, the María M. Simmons De Rivera School, and serve as a semi-permanent resilience hub and functional office space for OMME’s nine staff.