Solar power provider’s $8m Turks expansion

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN solar power provider has expanded abroad via an $8m microgrid project it is developing in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Justin Cunningham, Compass Solar Systems’ chief executive, told Tribune Business the development in North Caicos is set to be completed by the 2024 second quarter.

He explained that it is the first solar microgrid project for Turks & Caicos’ power company, Fortis TCI, and will support both the North and Middle Caicos if they ever were to become disconnected from the main plant in Providenciales. The mircogrid can thus “act as a backup” to the existing electricity grid network.

Mr Cunningham said: “We’ve already done several of these projects here in The Bahamas. You can find locations like Chub Cay, and a lot of other locations like Central Abaco primary, that have different sizes but similar projects.”

Compass Solar Systems has also carried out renewable energy projects at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), the Nassau Cruise Port and Baha Mar. “When regulations changed at the end of 2016 and the start of 2017, Compass Solar came around and it has really been off to the races since mid-2017 as the regulations changed and allowed for self-generation,” Mr Cunningham said.

Demand for renewable energy solutions is continuing to increase in the private sector, especially among banks and large food retailers, given that Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) all-in energy rate now stands at 41 cents per kilowatt hour. “This doesn’t even encompass yet what the outer islands have done from a private standpoint with the private resorts,”

Mr Cunningham added of renewables demand.

The Government, too, has sought to support renewable energy development with the National Energy Policy goal that The Bahamas generate 30 percent of all its power needs from sustainable sources by 2030.

Mr Cunningham said:

“I think the two biggest options for solar power development are with regard to the work the Government is doing and having their plan in place. There’s also a couple of IDB (InterAmerican Development Bank) loans that have taken place, and it’s really helping the uptake from the public sector. Then, obviously, there’s a lot of private sector development that’s happening throughout the islands and their cost of electricity is huge. So that’s a huge market.”

The public sector is “by far” the biggest opportunity for solar development, while the “private sector has the fastest uptake” for projects. However, regulations may have to be updated to ensure solarpowered projects are continually fast-tracked to meet the 2030 goals.

Mr Cunningham said: “I don’t think that looking at solar power as being lucrative is the right way to look at things. We have to make sure it’s shared equally.

“We are a small island nation and there is only so much PV (Photovoltaic) to go around in order to have BPL still able to do their functionality. So I think one of the important things is, while the private sector is a lot faster to act, we need to make sure that the public sector gets the benefit of it as well. So that when we pay our light bill, it isn’t as high as it needs to be either.”