ONE of the six remaining bidders in the race to supply the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) with renewable energy yesterday said that with wind and solar power also in the mix, it was likely that the Government would exceed its initial target of generating 10 per cent of this nation's power supply from sustainable sources.
Len Enriquez, of Miami-based Cambridge Project Development, which is part of the NP Renewables $140 million waste-to-energy facility project, said he was "glad to see" solar and energy providers were part of the mix, with two such proposals among those shortlisted among BEC's final six candidates.
"We're looking forward to moving ahead," Mr Enriquez told Tribune Business. "I'm glad to see there's some wind and solar options in there. I think the mix of energies, wind and solar, is probably attractive, and we're looking forward to meeting with BEC and responding to any additional information they'd like to know with regard to our project.
"I think the original goal was to replace 10 per cent of power with renewable sources. Our project is 9-10 per cent alone, but I think everyone will be pleased that the 10 per cent goal is likely to be exceeded, if you add wind and solar options on top."
Waste-to-energy is the most competitive sector in BEC's search for renewable energy suppliers, with four of the six proposed projects in this area. Apart from the NP Renewables Group, which includes BISX-listed Bahamas Waste, this field also includes Bahamas Renewable Energy Resources, a group led by Ginny McKinney's Waste Not; Smart Power and Canadian-based Plasco Energy Group.
All four are proposing projects on New Providence, given that this is the only Bahamian island that generates enough municipal waste to make such projects work.
Apart from the four waste-to-energy bidders, the final two are Bahamas Renewable Energy Corporation, which is proposing wind/solar projects on New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera, and Protocol Energy. The latter is eyeing exclusively solar projects on a number of Family Islands, including Andros, Exuma, Cat Island, San Salvador, Long Island and Crooked Island.
Describing waste-to-energy as "a little different" from solar and wind power solutions, Mr Enriquez told Tribune Business that it effectively generated "baseline power".
"It provides electricity as reliably, if not more reliably, than old fossil fuel plants," he said. "You can expect waste-to-energy to generate power 85-90 per cent of the time.
"It's really part of the base load, and will save them [BEC] from loading up on the fossil fuels. We hope to replace roughly 10 per cent of the imports of fossil fuels, and suppress the fires that occur at the landfill. It will serve two major goals - eliminating the waste and some of the implosions at the landfill."
Given that BEC imported some $376 million worth of fuel in 2008, the NP Renewables proposal could effectively have saved the Corporation some $37.6 million that year.
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