The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said the Government is negotiating a $9m grant from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to help Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) develop an ocean thermal energy initiative.

Alfred Sears KC, minister of works and utilities, speaking ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting, said the financing will enable BPL to exploit the deep sea water lying just off New Providence and the temperature “differential between the deep ocean and the surface ocean”.

He explained: “Where you have a differential of 20 degrees celsius, you can have the conversion into electricity. We have to make a quantum leap and this is what BPL and the Water and Sewerage Cooperation (WSC) will be working together on to establish a number of O-Tech facilities.”

Mr Sears said several ocean thermal energy conversion facilities he had visited in Japan “work well”. He added: “We will establish a number of demonstration facilities in The Bahamas, so we’re really taking a strategic approach." O-Tech is otherwise known as an Ocean Conversion Energy Programme.

“BPL is now engaged, and is consistent,on what was committed in the 'Blueprint for Change' to design a business plan," Mr Sears added, referring to the Progressive Liberal Party's (PLP) 2021 election campaign manifesto.

“BPL and the Water & Sewerage Corporation are designing a business plan to make both corporations more nimble, and nimble within the context of an archipelago clearly involves devolution, so that the people on the ground have the opportunity to innovate, have the opportunity to address the matters which may arise in a much more quick and efficient manner.”

The transition to clean energy is an important part of the Government’s “strategic overhaul” for BPL. Mr Sears added: “LNG (liquefied natural gas) is being considered by the Government, and it will be one of a more cleaner - it's not a renewable form of energy, but it's a cleaner form of energy - and BPL is retrofitting its engines so that they will be able to accommodate and receive LNG.

“So there will be announcements soon with respect to the incorporation of LNG, the incorporation of solar and also to incentivise all of us to solarise our homes, our businesses, and other establishments within The Bahamas.”

The Government in March 2022 signed a $9m non-reimbursable loan agreement with the European Union (EU) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to assist with implementing renewable energy solutions for The Bahamas. This involves the installation of microgrids for Abaco, Acklins, Crooked Island, Mayaguana, Long Cay and east Grand Bahama.

Mr Sears described this as a “multi-faceted approach” to changing the energy dynamics in The Bahamas. He added that BPL's sliding scale of fuel charge increases, which will peak in the coming months at the height of summer consumption, are “working well” in terms of meeting the objective to repay the Government some $90m in financial support that the latter provided to the utility's fuel supplier, Shell North America.

Shavon Cambridge, BPL's chief executive, yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that the phased fuel charge hikes are “recovering some of the under-recovery at BPL when the rates were held constant during COVID and immediately thereafter".

BPL is projected to be “fully recovered by the end of October” 2023, based on the model and forecasts produced when the sliding scale. Thereafter, the energy provider will “revert to its normal collection method”, which is determining the fuel charge on a month-to-month basis and billing customers accordingly to recover this.

"We all know that there are many legacy issues with respect to BPL. It has a very aged power generation system and it's challenged," Mr Sears said. "The good thing is that we have a very talented and innovative technical team that keep these old engines running and recondition them and so on.

"BPL, consistent with the Government's policy, is undertaking a number of major initiatives and strategic changes to address, over the medium-term and long-term, the challenges of power generation. It has recently commissioned a battery energy storage system of 25 Mega Watts (MW). This battery storage system will save BPL $3m each month in fuel costs.

“In addition, BPL, as you know, a year ago commissioned a utility-scale solar system in Ragged Island. This year, meaning 2023-2024 in the next Budget period, BPL will construct two 10 MW solar utility-scale facilities. These facilities, along with a number of power purchase agreements with private solar providers, will enable BPL to be more resilient.”