CooperVision began constructing a natural gas-fueled Combined Heat and Power System (CHP) and company-controlled microgrid in 2020 at our manufacturing campus in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, following several years of hurricanes and other natural disasters that weakened the island’s power grid. In 2017, Hurricane María, the largest and most destructive hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in the past century, devastated the island’s infrastructure and left most people without electricity for months.
“We knew that the island hadn’t seen its last storm,” recalls Efrain Oliveras Villafane, Associate Infrastructure Director at the CooperVision Juana Diaz site. “Even before María paid us a visit, we had begun to prepare.”
Working with a cross-functional team of colleagues from Finance, Operations, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Oliveras Villafane and his team identified a solution that would not only provide a reliable source of energy in the face of the next María but would also be sustainable and cost-effective. The system captures and reuses excess heat and avoids distribution losses, making it significantly more efficient than conventional generators. It also requires less fuel to produce the same amount of energy when compared to traditional generation of power.
The completed CHP began operations in 2022 with a capacity of 23.3 megawatts and 3,000 refrigeration tons. The system was built in alignment with leading construction codes, helping prepare it to withstand the impacts of potential earthquakes and hurricane-force winds. 2023 marked the first full calendar year that the site used the CHP for its power needs.
“The CHP system checked all of our boxes – it provides grid resiliency and the power and chilled water we need for our operations today and in the future, while also resulting in cost reductions and price stability,” said Damaris Santiago Lebron, director of EHS for CooperVision Americas Manufacturing Operations. “The team did more than safeguard the site; they provided a competitive advantage for CooperVision by helping us keep power on 24/7 and deliver a continuous supply of products to the market in a more sustainable way.”