A new filing with Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau shows only seven of the ten temporary power turbines at the San Juan Power Plant are available for use — and six of those seven still need repairs.
Genera PR LLC, the company that operates Puerto Rico’s temporary generation fleet under contract with PREPA, submitted the filing Sept. 9 in response to an Aug. 31 order from the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau. The bureau had ordered Genera and PREPA to answer detailed questions about the condition of 14 TM2500 turbine units — 10 at the San Juan Power Plant and four at Palo Seco — that PREPA bought in March 2024 as part of its Priority Stabilization Plan.
According to Genera’s response, seven of the ten San Juan units are available for operation, but six of those need a “hot-gas section exchange,” a major overhaul of internal turbine components. Two more San Juan units are out of service entirely — one from an electrical arc and a stuck valve, the other from a switchgear explosion that damaged the turbine and is being repaired in Texas, with an estimated return to service in January 2027.
Genera also said repairs have been complicated by funding gaps. The company said an April 15 rate order cut its maintenance budget from $113.3 million to $53.5 million, and that no reserve account for major repairs has been funded since. Separately, Genera said payment toward an EPA air-quality permit and emissions controls, estimated at $30 million, is still owed as a condition of the project’s federal funding.
The Energy Bureau has scheduled a technical conference for Sept. 15 to question Genera and PREPA further. Genera has asked that it be postponed until it finishes responding to the remaining questions, citing the technical detail required.
Fuel supply also flagged
Genera’s filing noted “known limitations” on diesel fuel supply to the San Juan units, though it said Palo Seco currently has none. At Palo Seco, the company reported roughly 27,800 barrels of diesel on hand — enough, it said, for about eight days of continuous operation for that site’s four units.
The temporary turbines are meant to stay in service through December 2027 under the Priority Stabilization Plan, providing backup capacity for the broader San Juan power grid.
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Sources: Genera PR LLC filing, Puerto Rico Energy Bureau Docket NEPR-MI-2024-0005
