Representatives from Siemens Government Technologies broke ground alongside Vice Adm. Mary M. Jackson, Commander, Navy Installations Command, and Capt. John Fischer, Commanding Officer, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on the site of an innovative new power plant, March 9, 2020.

“Today, the Navy is making a critical investment in Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to support a mission that is vitally important to America’s security. This installation is forward, ready, and an irreplaceable U.S. sea power platform in the Caribbean,” Jackson said.

Currently, diesel engine generators provide the majority of electricity on the installation. The new plant will power the base with liquefied natural gas and solar arrays. Stable electricity generation and distribution is critical for the naval station’s future as self-sufficiency remains an integral part of the installation’s operations.

The new plant will feature a state-of-the-art Liquefied Natural-Gas burning power facility, the first to be installed on a Department of Defense site. Solar photovoltaic arrays and a battery energy-storage system that will generate a projected 18% of the base’s demand and allow storage and return of excess energy to the grid as needed.

The backbone of the energy project is an intelligent energy-management approach, powered by Siemens Spectrum Power 7 Microgrid management system. This system will allow the base to manage the grid in the most efficient means possible, aiding real-time, low-cost energy determination. The project is financed through an Energy Savings Performance Contract, a private-public partnership available to U.S. government agencies for increasing energy efficiency and reducing costs.

“This project is an example of how shore installations around the world can achieve greater resiliency and sustainability to better support the fleet, fighter and family,” Jackson said.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center awarded the $828.8 million multiple award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity ESPC and will have contract oversight while NAVFAC Southeast and the Facilities, Engineering and Acquisition Director at NS Guantanamo Bay will oversee the work on site.

The work to be performed provides for the construction, operations, and maintenance of energy conservation measures to improve energy efficiency and reliability, which include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning upgrades, lighting upgrades, commercial refrigeration upgrades, distributed generation, renewable energy photovoltaic panels or systems for both the demand and supply sides, energy storage, power control, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, water retrofits and wastewater.

The project supports the Navy’s three pillars of energy security -- resiliency, reliability and efficiency -- and will improve NS Guantanamo Bay’s ability to achieve mission requirements through improved infrastructure, energy cost savings and increased energy security.

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