The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Government plans to seek bids for the provision of up to 100 Mega Watts (MW) of solar energy for New Providence, the Attorney General said yesterday.

Ryan Pinder KC, addressing the Senate in the debate on the Speech from the Throne, said the utility-scale solar project will be spread across ten sites with ambitions that it will generate supply equal to almost one-third of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) peak load demand.

“The cost of doing business and cost of living is directly tied to the cost of electricity. We have set out definitive policy and legislative plans to tap our natural resources and to bring down the cost of electricity. We have already published Requests for Expressions of Interest for solar projects in Nassau and the Family Islands,” he added.

“In Nassau, we look to launch a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to establish up to 100 MW of solar power production across up to ten sites to supplement the traditional power being produced by BPL. This will lower the costs of electricity in Nassau, providing renewable generation from solar and result in providing at least 30 percent of the peak load of power generation in Nassau from renewables. “

The Attorney General added that requests will also be issued for solar generation at up to 16 Family Island “sites”, while renewable energy legislation will be passed to support solar generation as a new industry.

He said: “We have likewise issued Requests for Expressions of Interest, and will issue Requests for Proposals, for a new power generation framework for the Family Islands. We have identified up to 16 sites in the Family islands where we will be soliciting proposals for.

“We seek to implement a hybrid approach to power generation where the production is a minimum of 30 percent solar. This will bring transformational change to our Family Islands, providing a fundamental basis for developing their economic security.

“In support of these initiatives we will pass renewable energy legislation to provide a framework for industrial-scale solar generation and provide incentives for its development”

Turning to other aspects of the Davis administration’s agenda, Mr Pinder said legislation to give effect to the National Development Plan will be implemented that will “form the transparent and certain planning for our economic security”.

He explained that land reforms include two pieces of legislation related to property ownership - a Land Adjudication Bill to aid in determining rightful property ownership, and a Registered Land Bill to create a land registry system.

“Providing certainty in ownership of property throughout our country is a fundamental element of unlocking capital to secure economic security for all. To advance this we will advance two pieces of legislation to transform land ownership in the country,” Mr Pinder said.

“The Land Adjudication Bill establishes an adjudication body and framework to properly adjudicate property with uncertain title to definitively determine the proper ownership of the land.

“This will be a unique and purposefully designed adjudication framework for land disputes only. The goal is to be able to expeditiously determine the rightful ownership of property to unlock the economic security that comes with legal property ownership.

“Frequently, property transactions and ownership are complicated by the way we verify title in The Bahamas, primarily a result of not having a land registry system. This will be cured with the establishment of a land registrar where land registration will be duly filed and more easily tracked and verified.”