Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) is reviewing four proposals touting the use of natural gas to generate electricity in The Bahamas, according to its chairman.
Leslie Miller disclosed that the "four serious proposals" before him outline the procurement of natural gas for New Providence over the next 10 to 15 years. He insisted that the public corporation is "still on board" with replacing oil and gas as the country's fuel to generate electricity.
Miller told Guardian Business yesterday that the market has changed and natural gas is now in great abundance in the U.S., making it "less expensive" than most energy sources. While the fuel has become cheaper in recent years, he admitted that it could still cost the government in excess of $200 million to make the conversion.
"We have to take a look at it and see the viability of it here in The Bahamas, and see whether it's worthwhile for us to put that kind of funding into the infrastructure that is necessary to enable us to use and retrofit some of our apparatus at Clifton. It's a very expensive enterprise. LNG (liquefied natural gas) is still on the board. There are four serious proposals before us in regards to LNG and the procurement of LNG for New Providence over the next 10 to 15 years," Miller explained.
"The market has changed. The whole world has switched now to LNG because it's the cheapest, safest gas and the wave of future enterprise. Natural gas is now in great abundance in the United States. They are going to be one of the world's greatest suppliers in three years. Instead of being a net importer of LNG, they are going to be among the top three exporters. So the whole market has changed. Canada is exporting LNG."
Miller's comments to Guardian Business came at the start of the 13th Annual Caribbean Energy Conference at Atlantis.
Phillip Paulwell, Jamaica's Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, served as one of the featured speakers at the conference. He told Guardian Business that
natural has not yet been introduced in his country - but a decision is expected to be made this week.
"We did inherit the LNG project, which we intend to determine next week one way or the other based on a final submission. We have to ensure that whether it's LNG or any other energy source, it is in fact lower for the consumer. It must be substantially lower between 15 and 18 cents if we are going to have a fighting chance. That determination will be made next week," he said.
Paulwell added: "What we are doing right now is evaluating where we are at and the prices do look high. This is a recent phenomenon. Since the earthquake in Japan, they have shifted from nuclear to LNG, we have seen the price of oil escalate. It's expensive for countries like Jamaica, so unless you can get the price of LNG somewhere between $10 and 12, it's not going to be feasible. That's where we at now."
As for BEC, Miller pointed out that BEC is in the process of putting a new plant at the Clifton Pier site with three 42-megawatt engines. That venture is expected to cost $285 million.
"The investment in The Bahamas for a regasification terminal here at the Clifton Pier will exceed $200 million. It's almost prohibitively expensive but that would take care of our generation needs for the next 10-12 years in New Providence. That's what is needed to satisfy the demand for the electrical power in New Providence," according to the chairman.

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