#Nassau, February 25, 2019 – Bahamas – Public schools and buildings in
New Providence will be outfitted with energy-efficient retrofits and solar PV
installations as part of the Government’s energy sector reform strategy, said
Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis.
The first two public schools –
Anatol Rodgers High School and T.G. Glover Primary School – are expected to be
completed this year, and will have a combined renewable energy capacity of 386
kilowatts.
Energy audits for an additional
eight government buildings are expected to be completed within the next few
months, including the Cecil Wallace Whitfield Centre on Cable Beach, which
houses the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance.
The Government is also looking
to refine the scope of works in order to begin tendering procedures for
retrofitting and installing a combined one megawatt of solar PV at government
buildings by 2020.
One of the Minnis
administration’s key priorities is that 30 percent of the country’s total
electricity matrix should be comprised of renewable sources by 2030.
The target is part of an
international commitment made by The Bahamas as a party to the 2015 United
Nations Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
“Energy sector reform and the
expansion of renewable energy sources are vital for economic growth and
expansion, and sustainable development,” said Prime Minister Minnis at the
recent ground breaking of Grand Bahama Power and Light’s Solar Sunrise, the
country’s first utility scale solar plant.
In New Providence, the
approximately one megawatt solar car park canopy at the National Stadium is
expected to become operational by the end of March.
And a 390 kilowatts solar micro-grid should be installed in Ragged Island by the end of the year. This is a critical step in the redevelopment of Ragged Island, which was ravaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The Government has also
introduced additional tax incentives for solar equipment.
The Minnis administration’s
energy sector reform includes energy conservation, the use of the country’s
renewable resources to reduce the carbon footprint and the provision of more
affordable energy to residents, small businesses and larger commercial
enterprises.
The Prime Minister has expressed
to Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) the urgency to further develop and to begin
implementing its strategy for renewable energy utility generation in the Family
Islands.
There are approximately 80
customers with solar PV systems tied to BPL’s grid, mostly on New Providence,
but also on Eleuthera and Exuma, representing approximately two megawatts in
installed renewable energy capacity.
There are also systems in the
country that are not yet registered.
“Although alternative and
renewable energy technologies are becoming cost competitive and better
understood globally and in The Bahamas, we still have a very long way to go as
a country,” said Prime Minister Minnis.
Over the past few months, the government
has been liaising with and bringing together key energy stakeholders to agree
on how progress should be measured to achieve the 30 percent target by 2030.
Energy reform is one of the key goals being monitored by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.
Release: Office of The Prime Minister