Officials: Petronella Solar Farm to bring new wave of renewable energy, lower electricity costs to STX

ST. CROIX — Officials cut the ribbon at the Petronella Solar Farm on Tuesday, bringing a new wave of renewable energy to the island, which is experiencing rolling blackouts due to a fuel shortage.

A slate of local politicians and stakeholders attended the high-energy affair, including Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., WAPA’s Chief Executive Officer Karl Knight and the head of V.I. Electron, Christian Loranger. The Petronella Solar Farm, featuring a whopping 30,000 panels, is one of several solar facilities V.I. Electron is building in partnership with WAPA. The project includes a facility on each island. St. Croix’s solar plant will produce 16 megawatts, and another site in Hogensborg will produce another 22 megawatts of renewable energy.

Loranger explained in an interview with The Daily News that 16 megawatts of energy would take 25 years to create with a 22,000-horsepower generator. Knight said Petronella produces more power at a cheaper cost than producing the same energy with the island’s fossil fuel generators at the Richmond power plant. “With the abundance of sun we get here on the Virgin Islands, Petronella can produce solar power for less than it costs us to produce that same energy with our fossil fuel generators at Richmond,” Knight said.