Branson's Virgin Group Buys Hurricane-Wrecked Solar Farm to Help Rebuild Caribbean
09 August 2018
Business
Richard Branson's Necker Island was hit by two hurricanes in two weeks. @richardbranson / Instagram
Virgin Group's BMR Energy announced Tuesday that it bought a 4-megawatt solar plant from NRG Energy, Inc. in St. Croix that was badly damaged during Hurricane Maria.
BMR Energy will take over the power purchase agreement and restoration efforts of the solar farm, the company said in a press release.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="6cb01" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="POD22A1576662723"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1026838059504021504" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re proud to announce our acquisition of a 4-MW #solar facility in St. Croix that experienced damage from… https://t.co/IalnpNQpJl</div> — BMR Energy (@BMR Energy)<a href="https://twitter.com/BMRenergy/statuses/1026838059504021504">1533652245.0</a></blockquote></div>
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BMR Energy, which develops and operates clean energy projects in the Caribbean and Latin America, was purchased by Richard Branson's Virgin Group in 2016.
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"The world needs to find ways to introduce more resilient clean energy," Branson said in the release. "The Caribbean has an abundance of clean energy sources, and BMR are taking great strides towards helping create zero-carbon energy supplies for years to come."
</p><p>
Rebuilding the storm-wrecked region is a cause that is close to the Virgin founder. The billionaire businessman owns a private island in British Virgin Islands where he rode out both
<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_blank">hurricanes</a> Irma and Maria in the space of two weeks.
</p><p>
"I've never experienced anything quite like Hurricane Irma," Branson said in an Instagram
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZMVliOFodv/?utm_source=ig_embed" target="_blank">video</a> in September. "It literally devastated the British Virgin Islands."
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<span></span>Branson, a longtime environmentalist, intends to bring a "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/richard-branson-rebuild-caribbean-2505469343.html" target="_blank">green energy revolution</a>" to the region. Last year, he met with government representatives from Britain and the U.S. to <a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/recovering-hurricane-irma" target="_blank">set up a green fund</a> to rebuild the Caribbean.
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"As part of that fund we want to make sure that the Caribbean moves from dirty energy to clean energy," he told the
<a href="http://news.trust.org/item/20170919182816-y1nr9" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation</a> in September.
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Hurricane Maria not only devastated the Caribbean, it also hampered the area's supply of renewable energy. The St. Croix solar farm is currently running at less than 45 percent capacity.
</p><p>
Restoring the plant to full generation capacity will generate power for approximately 1,600 homes, BMR Energy said.
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"This acquisition is an opportunity to show how to build for stronger hurricane resiliency and offer greater value to the region," Bruce Levy, CEO of BMR Energy, said in the release. "As the prolonged restoration in these hurricane-devastated areas highlights—with Puerto Rico being the most extreme example—we must remain committed to rebuilding our infrastructure right and successfully maintaining projects through long-term ownership."
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Stephen Hawking Plans Trip to Space, Says Trump Should Replace Pruitt as EPA Head
20 March 2017
Popular
Professor Stephen Hawking could one day realize his dream of space travel thanks to Virgin founder and space-enthusiast Richard Branson.
"I have already completed a zero gravity flight which allowed me to float weightless, but my ultimate ambition is to fly into space," Hawking told host Piers Morgan of "Good Morning Britain" on Monday. "I thought no one would take me but Richard Branson has offered me a seat on Virgin Galactic and I said yes immediately."
<p>Branson's spaceflight company aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. However, the venture has faced a number of delays, including a <a href="http://www.space.com/4863-report-cites-rocketship-builder-explosion-inquiry.html" target="_blank">fatal explosion</a> in 2007 during a ground test and test flight <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/31/spaceshiptwo-richard-branson-virgin-crash-mojave" target="_blank">crash</a> in 2014. (Might I suggest that if Branson cannot offer the stars to Hawking, maybe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/elon-musk" target="_blank">Elon Musk</a>'s SpaceX can?)</p><p>"My three children have brought me great joy—and I can tell you what will make me happy, to travel in space," Hawking said. </p><div id="7d12f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EOTSVS1524750156"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="843803661067337732" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FULL INTERVIEW:
Prof Stephen Hawking on Trump, climate change, feminism, Brexit, robots, space travel & Marilyn.
https://t.co/sSQamLgrae</div> — Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan)<a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/statuses/843803661067337732">1490013444.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The 75-year-old theoretical physicist and cosmologist was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was 21. </p><p><span></span>Hawking actually wrote about Branson's offer in a 2016 article published in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/26/i-think-the-human-race-has-no-future-if-it-doesnt-go-to-space" target="_blank">Guardian</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I believe in the possibility of commercial space travel—for exploration and for the preservation of humanity. I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go to space. We need to inspire the next generation to become engaged in space and in science in general, to ask questions: What will we find when we go to space? Is there alien life, or are we alone? What will a sunset on Mars look like?"</p><p>Also in the interview, Hawking discussed <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" target="_blank">President Donald Trump</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a>.</p><div id="a69ee" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="MOR3H71524750156"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="737766897693937664" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Stephen Hawking: One Thing Threatens Us More Than Donald Trump ... Climate Change https://t.co/SDpsKZL3MH @tcktcktck @globalgreen</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/737766897693937664">1464732310.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The renowned scientist said that Trump's promise of the controversial <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-mexico-wall-wildlife-2315267998.html">border wall</a> and the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-dakota-access-pipeline-2211697835.html">sanctioning</a> of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl">Keystone XL</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline">Dakota Access</a> pipelines are designed to "satisfy [Trump's] electorate, who are neither liberal nor that well-informed."<br></p><p>Not only that, Hawking said that Trump should replace <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt">Scott Pruitt</a> as the head of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency because he is "a man who does not believe that carbon dioxide causes <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a>."</p><p><span></span>"Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent," Hawking said. "It affects America badly, so tackling it should win votes for [Trump's] second term—God forbid."</p><div id="f6d0f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CJ2Q2P1524750157"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="840335239016808448" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">EPA Chief Denies CO2 as Primary Driver of Climate Change https://t.co/gHj2KJDrQm @tcktcktck @OneWorld_News</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/840335239016808448">1489186508.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Hawking commented that the current administration's seemingly anti-science agenda has made him feel unwelcome. </p><p>"I have many friends and colleagues [in the U.S.] and it is still a place I like and admire in many ways," he said, "but I fear that I may not be welcome."</p><p>Hawking has said similar remarks before. He <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/stephen-hawking-one-thing-threatens-us-more-than-donald-trump-climate--1891149035.html" target="_blank">called</a> then-candidate Trump a "demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator."</p><p>And during a lecture last year, he predicted that humanity has only 1,000 years left on Earth and we must find another planet to live on. </p><p>"[W]e must ... continue to go into space for the future of humanity," professor Hawking <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/professor-stephen-hawking-humanity-wont-survive-1000-years-on-earth-a7417366.html" target="_blank">said</a>. <span></span>"I don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet."</p>
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