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Harnessing Wind at Guantanamo Bay

The Situation: Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is the last of the independent military installations, located at the west end of Cuba. It has to be self-sufficient in power and water, and the reliability of both systems is crucial. By installing 4 modern wind turbines, the base has increased the electrical system reliability and reduced the cost of generating power by offsetting production from the decades-old diesel power plant on base -- $31,000 a day. And fortunately the peak wind periods occur during the base’s peak hours, further improving the economics of the project.

The Problem: Guantanamo Bay, as one of the oldest and most critical bases, has enormous mission critical needs to consume its available appropriated dollars. Saving energy dollars was never high enough on the priority list to get funding.

The Solution: By combining the immediate payback investments of replacement diesel engines with the advanced wind turbine solution provided by Vestas, the energy savings performance contractor was able to get the project to amortize in only 12 years, with financing provided by Hannon Armstrong.

Benefit to the U.S. Government: Naval Station Guantanamo Bay now benefits from a reliable electrical generation and distribution system, that is lowering costs and emissions, while not costing the US tax payer a cent.