While Hurricane Joaquin has caused tens of millions of dollars in infrastructural damage throughout the southeastern Bahamas, the government is unlikely to radically shift its renewable energy policies for the affected islands, according to Minister of the Environment Kenred Dorsett.
Speaking with NB12, Dorsett noted that several of the islands damaged by the Category 4 storm in early October were already slated for bolstered renewable energy investment through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with non-profit organization the Carbon War Room (CWR). Additionally, Dorsett believes that pending Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) managing partner PowerSecure could expand the number of islands where it will generate, transmit and sell energy beyond the undisclosed "designated Family Islands" outlined in the recently tabled Electricity Amendment Bill.
"It doesn't necessarily cause us to move differently. It gives us an opportunity, I think, as we already have to re-examine the master plan that we have for the rollout of utility scale power plants in the Family Islands. If you look at the memorandum of understanding between the Carbon War Room and us, some of those same islands that were impacted were already on the list of islands where we intend to put renewable energy utility scale solar plants in," Dorsett said.
The Christie administration signed an MOU in December 2014 to participate in the CWR's Ten Island Challenge, which was designed to aid small island developing states curb their reliance on fossil fuels through increase investment in renewable energy sources. The CWR program encompassed a number of renewable energy and power-saving efforts across the archipelago, including plans for developing solar arrays capable of producing upward of 20 megawatts across islands including Acklins, Crooked Island and Long Island.
Although Dorsett stated in March that the Family Islands renewable energy projects were nearing the request for proposals stage, there has been little information on the CWR's tangible progress since the MOU was signed last year - aside from field studies at potential sites. Still, Dorsett believed that The Bahamas has a "bright renewable energy future" ahead of it, noting the suite of BEC legislation recently introduced in Parliament, which in part would introduce the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) as the new regulator for the sector, with renewables part of the new business plan advanced by PowerSecure at BEC.
The hurricane, which caused an estimated $80 million in damage, severely battered utilities infrastructure in the affected islands. Dr. Nicola Virgill-Rolle, director of economic development and planning within the Office of the Prime Minister, last month told Guardian Business that aspects of the long awaited National Development Plan relating to Family Islands infrastructure would be adapted in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin.
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation CEO Edison Sumner further believes that the storm effectively offered a blank slate for Family Island redevelopment and urged the government not to squander a "fantastic opportunity" in rethinking the area's infrastructure.
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