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Bonaire Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations12
System facts27
Sources reviewed14
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Bonaire's island power system is an operating hybrid of 11.1 MW of wind, 5.3 MW of solar, 28.5 MW of thermal generation, and a battery fleet currently described by ContourGlobal as 14 MW. The original 2010 renewable build used twelve Enercon E-44/900 turbines, one E-33/330 turbine, MAN diesel engines, and a 3 MW Saft nickel-cadmium battery. Wärtsilä added a 6 MW/6 MWh battery and GEMS controls in 2019, and ContourGlobal added a further battery and the 5.3 MW solar plant in 2023. The system remains the island's sole bulk supply to distributor WEB, although 2024 demand growth, extreme heat, and cable damage caused outages and prompted capacity and grid upgrades.

Research status
Operating under ContourGlobal, with WEB distributing electricity. Current owner figures are 28.5 MW thermal, 11.1 MW wind, 14 MW BESS power, and 5.3 MW solar. WEB reported 2024 reliability problems and added 5 MW of production capacity while upgrading controls and transmission. Wind repowering/expansion is planned, but the publicly stated 60% renewable target was not verified as achieved and no current audited annual energy mix was found.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
28,000 kW
Coordinates
12.20189, -68.26238
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Bonaire Microgrid?

12 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

ContourGlobal Bonaire

Current owner/operator and sole bulk electricity generator supplying WEB Bonaire. [4][5][6]

Organization

EcoPower Bonaire

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

ENECO

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Enercon

Original wind-turbine, renewable-system, and load-balancing supplier; held a minority project interest at development. [8][9]

Organization

Evelop / Eneco

Original majority developer, financier, and operator of the 2010 hybrid power plant (reported 90% project interest at development). [8]

Organization

Green World Company Projects

Construction contractor identified by ContourGlobal for the 2023 solar project. [11]

Organization

MAN

Original diesel-genset supplier and minority project participant. [8][9]

Organization

Saft

Supplier of the original 3 MW nickel-cadmium energy-storage system commissioned with the 2010 plant. [8]

Organization

SMA Altenso

Engineering and main-component supplier identified by ContourGlobal for the 2023 solar expansion. [11]

Organization

Wärtsilä

EPC and controls/storage supplier for the 6 MW/6 MWh 2019 battery expansion and GEMS energy-management system. [10]

Organization

Water en Energie Bedrijf Bonaire (WEB)

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire (WEB)

Island electricity distributor, grid operator/customer of ContourGlobal generation, and planner of current reliability and energy-transition works. [6][13][14]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Wind
11000 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
14000 [1]
Storage
3/6 MW/MWH [1]
Current wind capacity
11.1 MW [4][5]
Current solar capacity
5.3 MW, commercially operating from 2023 [4][11]
Current thermal capacity
28.5 MW [4]
Current BESS power
14 MW aggregate power rating; ContourGlobal does not disclose aggregate energy capacity on its current asset page [4]
Current net peak capacity
58.9 MW as reported by ContourGlobal [4]
Original wind fleet
Twelve 900 kW Enercon E-44 turbines at Morotin (10.8 MW) plus one 330 kW Enercon E-33 at Sorobon, approximately 11.13 MW total [9][7]
2019 battery expansion
6 MW / 6 MWh [10]
Renewable-energy share
WEB describes wind as roughly 22% of annual energy on its current public page and had targeted 60% renewable energy; the review found no audited evidence that the 60% target was achieved after the 2023 solar/BESS additions [6][7]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Wind turbines

Enercon — E-44/900

Twelve 900 kW units at Morotin, totaling 10.8 MW. [9][7]

02

Wind turbine

Enercon — E-33/330

One 330 kW unit at Sorobon. [9][7]

03

Original battery system

Saft — SMRX nickel-cadmium / nickel-block

3 MW system in three containers at 640 V and 1,320 Ah; designed for more than two minutes of immediate support while diesel generation starts and to absorb power while held near 90% state of charge. [8]

04

2019 battery system

Wärtsilä

6 MW/6 MWh BESS delivered under EPC scope. [10]

05

Energy-management system

Wärtsilä — GEMS

Controls the hybrid thermal, wind, and storage fleet and supports fast frequency response and renewable integration. [10]

06

Medium-voltage system

ABB

30 kV medium-voltage equipment identified in the Dutch government project audit. [9]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    The energy storage system is also designed to typical grid fluctuations. [1]

  • Storage

    The battery array is normally held at 90% state-of-charge so it can be brought on line as an artificial load when necessary. [1]

  • Generation

    Biodiesel: (5) 2.85 MW MAN diesel engines [1]

  • Generation

    Wind: (11) 1 MW Enercon wind turbines [1]

  • Hybrid architecture

    Wind and solar are dispatched with battery storage and thermal generators on a single island grid. The batteries provide fast frequency/power-quality support, absorb excess renewable output, and bridge the interval while diesel units start. [8][10][4]

  • 2019 performance

    Wärtsilä reports that the 6 MW/6 MWh addition reduced CO2 emissions by 8%, fossil-fuel use by 5%, eliminated renewable curtailment, and increased annual wind utilization by 6-8%. Load-rejection tests demonstrated continued operation after loss of wind, engines, or load without customer shedding. [10]

  • 2023 expansion chronology

    ContourGlobal's current report describes the additional battery as commercially operating in April 2023 and the 5.3 MW PV plant later in 2023. Local reporting places battery commissioning in July and solar commissioning in September; the difference likely reflects commercial-operation versus local handover milestones. [12][14]

  • 2024 reliability update

    WEB attributed recent outages to an unexpected 15-20% demand increase, extreme heat, and cable damage. It reported adding 5 MW of production capacity, digitizing controls, and advancing transmission upgrades with a January 2025 target. [13]

  • Planned wind upgrade

    ContourGlobal says it is pursuing wind repowering that would more than double wind capacity. WEB also identifies wind-farm expansion in its 2024-2030 transition planning; no completed repower rating was located. [5][14]

  • Storage-rating caveat

    The current 14 MW BESS figure is a power rating. It must not be converted to 14 MWh or simply added to historical energy ratings because the owner does not publish the current aggregate duration/energy capacity. [4][10]

Provenance

14 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-05

  2. [2]
    Saft’s

    saftbatteries.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-05

  3. [3]
    Bonaire: Island of green dreams

    powerengineeringint.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-05

  4. [4]
    Bonaire

    ContourGlobal · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
    Electricity

    Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Sustainable Energy

    Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire · Primary source

  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    Onderzoek naar de elektriciteitsvoorziening op Bonaire

    Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal · Primary source

  10. [10]
    ContourGlobal Bonaire

    Wärtsilä · Primary source

  11. [11]
  12. [12]
    Current Report, January 20, 2025

    ContourGlobal · Primary source

  13. [13]
    WEB takes action after recent power outages

    Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire · Primary source

  14. [14]
    EZK delegation visits WEB and CGB energy projects on Bonaire

    Water- en Energiebedrijf Bonaire · Primary source

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