Dorian devastation spawns mini solar boom in Bahamas

The record devastation from September’s Hurricane Dorian has spawned a slew of new solar and storage projects in the Bahamas.

State-owned Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and Grand Bahama Power Company (owned by UK-based Emera), the primary electric utilities on the Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, respectively, in coordination with US-based sustainability think tank Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have launched the construction of new, distributed clean power grids on the islands, and more are reportedly on the way. 

Christopher Burgess, project director for RMI’s Islands Energy Program, in an interview with Solar Magazine, said seven solar-plus-storage microgrids are live to date, with five “running, but yet to be completed on Abaco.” 

One of these is in the hard-hit Abaco community of Marsh Harbor (pictured after storm). Others include a grid to energize critical public assets - the hospital, airport and government complex; another to serve the Cooperstown medical clinic, another to power the seaport and one to power Water Treatment Plant #5.  

In addition, RMI is discussing a development strategy to extend distribution lines 35 miles (56.3km) east, rather than initial plans to build out west, in order to more effectively meet the needs of local loads.

“There is a plan in place to create microgrids in cooperation with a number of private sector entities,” said public works minister Desmond Bannister, speaking to reporters. “There are a number of entities that want to generate power and to generate renewable energy in a number of the cays, and BPL is working closely with those entities to ensure that we can create the microgrids,” he added.

Behind the curve

The solar surge in the Bahamas comes even as the island nation is struggling to meet its own targets for renewable generation capacity. 

Guilden Gilbert, vice president of Alternative Power Solutions (APS) Bahamas, recently told local media outlet The Tribune, that the nation faces a “tall order” to meet the national energy policy’s 30% renewable energy penetration by 2030, because it is “so far behind the curve.”

Gilbert said the Bahamas was likely at only 2% penetration with just a decade to go as he backed an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) paper detailing the “governance and regulatory” obstacles to increased renewable take-up. 

The IDB paper argued that the impact of Dorian on Abaco had served to revive interest in rebuilding the island’s energy infrastructure with an eye on renewables. 

The paper reveals that some US$50,000 of US$750,000 in funding being made available to the Bahamas to assist with renewable energy and institutional reform will be directed towards the "immediate rehabilitation" of Abaco's electricity infrastructure. 

Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis recently confirmed that the negative impact from Dorian had forced the government to cut the economic growth outlook for 2019 in half to 1.1%.