Tesla restores power to Puerto Rico children’s hospital

Tesla has restored power at a children’s hospital in Puerto Rico using solar panels and batteries, as part of the company's plan to bring light back to the island.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of the electric carmaker, announced yesterday that San Juan’s Hospital del Nino (Children’s Hospital) had electricity for the first time since two hurricanes ripped through the US territory and devastated the island in September.

He said the project was only the “first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico”.

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Speaking to the local newspaper El Nuevo Dia, cited by NPR, Rossello called the project a “humanitarian gesture” and said it “could be a model to follow for public or private entities that offer services critical to citizens”.

The hospital’s new system allows it to generate the energy it needs to care for 35 permanent residents with chronic conditions and around 3,000 young patients, the paper reports. The hospital’s director also said that the system is a temporary donation and that, after the energy crisis ends, there could be a deal to make it their permanent energy generator.

While some areas of Puerto Rico are regaining power, 75% of the island’s grid is still down, according NPR. Rebuilding it is likely to take months and could cost up to $5bn (£3.7bn).

Some children have already started returning to schools without electricity and pictures have emerged of doctors performing surgery using mobile phone lights, HuffPost UK reports.

Whitefish, a small Montana energy company backed by one of President Donald Trump’s major donors, has secured a $300m (£227m) contract to restore the power grid, provoking concern in some quarters.

“Whitefish only had two employees the day Hurricane Maria hit,” says CNN Money, leading Democrats to ask why a more established company wasn't chosen.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said the contract is “alarming”.