Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) Chief Investment Officer, Derek Newbold recently gave a glimpse into the renewable energy projects in the pipeline for the island.
Newbold told ZNS News, “we have about close to 25 maybe 30 megawatts of solar power project coming on stream over the next two to three years.”
He added, “we know The Bahamas signed on to a pledge, 30 by 30 meaning that we would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and improve our dependence on renewables, at least to 30% by 2030.”
On Monday past the first of two Lucaya power plants was commissioned on the island. Newbold revealed that more projects are in the works. “We have another 3-4 potential projects that we’re working with right now. A second one is already licensed. We expect construction to start later this year. A third is in the process of being licensed as we speak.”
The Chief Investment Officer also spoke to the benefits of the renewable energy project to Grand Bahamians. Speaking about the Fairfield Plant, Newbold said, “for example, this particular plant is 5 megawatts. And so once is this is connected to the main grid and is plugged in, the plan is to displace 5 megawatts of whatever your fuel charge would have been. So it creates a stabilization factor over a 25 year period. As you can imagine the more you get plugged in the more stable our fuel prices become over time. So that’s that significance.”
