Projects

Puerto Rico

A beautiful island that generates more waste than its landfill capacity can manage, and a power grid struggling to recover from years of financial challenges, natural disasters and reconstruction efforts that frustrate the people and industry who sustain this culture.

Stage

Certified and permitting

Capacity

up to 300 MW

Offtake

Private PPAs and grid wheeling

Overview

What is being built, and why here.

Our engagement in Puerto Rico began in the aftermath of Hurricane María, working with the Commonwealth on frameworks for resilient, baseload renewable generation, even before certain needed regulatory pathways existed. Since then we have participated in building those pathways, and secured the authorizations required to operate within them: certification as an Independent Power Producer, Electricity Service Company and Retail Electricity Supplier; Strategic Project designation from the Planning Board; and an Act 60 Green Energy Tax Exemption, with a second decree for manufacturing and R&D under review.

That is eight years of sustained work in a difficult market. The authorizations took years to assemble, and they are the best evidence of our commitment to Puerto Rico and to our project there. The Strategic Project designation and the Act 60 decree reflect Puerto Rico’s own judgment about what this project is worth to the island.

Milestones

Dated, and checkable.

2018Engagement begins with the Commonwealth for a project which provides resilient baseload renewable generation and diverts waste from landfills as a usable energy source
2021PREB formally approves the Regulation of Electric Energy Wheeling
2023Circon, through the participation of its Chief Legal Officer, actively participated in a six-month stakeholder engagement process for the development of a Wheeling Services Agreement
2024PREB formally approves the Wheeling Services Agreement
2024Circon receives multi-category certifications as an Independent Power Producer, Electricity Service Company and Retail Electricity Supplier
2024Circon's project is certified as a Strategic Project by the Puerto Rico Planning Board
2025Circon awarded an Act 60 Green Energy Tax Exemption under Puerto Rico Act 60-2019. Application for an additional Act 60 decree for manufacturing and R&D submitted and under review
2022–2026Ongoing project development work: securing of land, negotiations with industrial and private customers for power purchase agreements, working with multiple local sources to secure feedstock, planning for permitting under the expedited review available to a Strategic Project, identification of and engagement with an EPC contractor and major OEM equipment suppliers, and continuing engagement with legal, tax and permitting advisors

Full project record

The record, as far as disclosure allows.

Regional context

Puerto Rico generates more waste than its remaining landfill capacity can absorb, on a grid that has never fully recovered from Hurricane María. The site is planned for a location on land adjoining a recently awarded landfill cell — feedstock and facility in the same place, which removes a haulage cost and a permitting argument at the same time.

Technical configuration

The design follows the modular strategy developed for the Dominican Republic project rather than starting from a clean sheet, so the engineering package is reusable across projects rather than re-created from scratch. Feedstock is drawn from municipal organics, plastics, end-of-life tires, biomass, storm debris and industrial residues under sourcing agreements from private and public waste managers, recyclers, and industrial facilities.

Commercial structure

Private power purchase agreements and thermal cogeneration agreements are being executed with pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospitals, industrial manufacturers, real estate developments and utilities. Long-term PPAs anchor bankability; excess clean fuels, recovered carbon black, biochar and environmental credits reduce dependence on any single revenue line. Power not sold under contract is delivered to the grid and settled on a net basis under the wheeling agreement at rates approved by the PREB.

Regulatory and permitting

PREB has issued a multi-category certification to Circon as an Independent Power Producer, Electricity Service Company and Retail Electricity Supplier. These certifications collectively authorize Circon to produce electricity, deliver it to the Puerto Rico electric grid and sell that electricity to private grid offtakers as provided in the respective energy regulations. Wheeling approval — the mechanism that lets renewable generation reach a customer across the grid — took eight years to obtain and cannot be bought or accelerated; PREB has approved a Wheeling Services Agreement for use by certified suppliers, and Circon will apply for its own.

Community and environment

The process is not incineration: no waste is burned. The facility starts with 100% waste and leaves less than 1% residual by weight. Operating the facility takes several hundred permanent skilled roles, with several times that number again across the local supply chain that grows around it — hired overwhelmingly in-country, and lasting the life of the asset rather than the length of the build. Local hiring commitments, benefit-sharing terms and the environmental monitoring program are being finalized with the municipality.

Timeline

Land, sourcing agreements and engineering designs are in place. Permits, project funding and the start of construction are estimated for the fourth quarter of 2027. The U.S. Department of Energy is engaged on the project's financing structure and execution timetable.

Commitment

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