The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Government yesterday signed an agreement to "update" the road map for ensuring that 30 percent of The Bahamas' energy needs are derived from renewable sources by 2030.

Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance's financial secretary, speaking at the contract signing with the Caribbean Centre for Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), said the agreement will lead to the creation of an integrated resource resilience plan.

This will map out The Bahamas' energy generation over the next five years and get the country closer the National Energy Policy goal of 30 percent of energy from renewables by 2030. Mr Wilson added that increasing the amount of energy produced from renewable sources will positively impact the environment and help produce lower, more stable electricity costs.

He said: "We're here today to sign the contract between the Government of Bahamas and CCREEE for the integrated resource resilience plan. So this plan is a plan in terms of uses of energy generation for The Bahamas over the next five years. We have an existing plan that's 10 years old. This plan is going to update it and lead The Bahamas in achieving its goals of 30 percent by 2030

“It's going to lead to a more stable cost of electricity… It will obviously have a very, very important impact on the climate, because we will be burning less fossil fuels and go into more renewable energy. And the third thing is it's going to lead to, in some aspects, lower costs, so your stability in costs and then you also have a lower cost, which are two different things. So, hopefully, a lower cost. Those are three big things that renewable energy can bring if done correctly.”

Shavonn Cambridge, Bahamas Power & Light's (BPL) chief executive, said the upgraded road map will guide how the utility company integrates renewables into its energy mix efficiently. It will be applied in New Providence and the Family Islands, with the majority of financing provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

He said: ”Basically, what the integrated resource and resilience plan does is look at the assets that the utility has, and the goals that we have in terms of migrating to more efficient production, particularly the integration of renewables, and they do that in the most efficient manner.

"It looks at how do we retire existing assets, or how do we look at any additional capacity that we need and the integration of renewables. And this plan is not only just for New Providence, but it also faces how we as a utility evolve throughout The Bahamas and the integration of renewables in the most efficient and effective manner.

“This project, as with several other renewable energy initiatives, we're working in partnership with the IDB, as well as the Government of the Bahamas..but the majority of the funding is being done in collaboration with the IDB.”

Mr Wilson said that in addition IDB financing, the Government plans to use public-private partnerships (PPP) to facilitate the roll-out of renewable energy. Bids for renewable energy solutions throughout The Bahamas have recently been put out to tender.

Dr Gary Jackson, CCREEE's executive director, said the organisation is focused on helping its members reach their renewable energy goals efficiently. He added that, due to the impact of climate change, it is important for The Bahamas to increase its ability to recover from catastrophic events quickly and the plan will improve the country’s recovery time.

He said: "The Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency was established by the [CARICOM] heads of government back in 2018, and we're here to help member states in navigating the energy transition that they seek. The integrated resource incidence plan is an important part of The Bahamas' future, given as the chief executive mentioned, the multiplicity of activities in relation to energy supply and becoming more efficient in delivering that energy to its end users.

“But what is more important is understanding the climate impacts. You will have experienced Dorian, and one of the things that we want to look at within this plan is looking at mitigation and adaptation strategies that you may need to have, given high heat that you're experiencing now and the hurricanes that you may experience.

"We may not be resilient in a way that that you will be able to reduce the impact, but you'll be able to rebound from the impact in a faster recovery time, in a faster way based on the multiplicity of activities that you will have within this plan.”

Dr Jackson added that each plan caters to the policy framework and constraints of the host country, and the timeframe for implementation will vary based on technological and environmental constraints.

He said: "In our development, we operate within the policy framework of The Bahamas. For any country that we go in, we work within the policy framework. So those benchmarks will be based on what the policy says. But when we run the models, because it's very technical, when we run the models we will look at where the constraints are in determining if those actual targets can be met within the timeframe, given the constraints of your transmission system, your distribution system, and the type of supply that we will look at.

“So with solar, with wind, if it's offshore technologies, like ocean energy, we'll look at all the constraints and make a determination. Each technology has a pathway in terms of development, so some can be done in two years, some can be done in five years, some might be ten years, because you have to do your resource assessments. You have to understand the bathymetry, which is the sea levels, and an environmental impact to do those determinations.”