Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation's (OTEC) $40.9 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been thrown into limbo following long delays to a key project.
The U.S.-based renewable energy firm, originally tasked with building a $100 million seawater district cooling plant for Baha Mar, received a major setback last year due to environmental concerns. And now, OTEC's application for a $40.9 million loan has been removed from IDB's website.
Robert "Sandy" Sands, the senior vice president of administration and external affairs at Baha Mar, said the loan is likely not relevant because the terms of the deal have changed.
While the issue "is not dead", executives have been forced to scrap the original scale and conditions of the project.
"We are looking at another possible business arrangement going forward," he told Guardian Business.
Jeremy Feakins, the CEO of OTEC, confirmed that talks are ongoing, although he did not wish to comment beyond that point.
According to representatives at the IDB, the project remains in the "internal pipeline". However, the date of the expected approval has changed.
Guardian Business was told that IDB executives are working to better determine the ultimate fate of the proposed loan.
In April of last year, OTEC and Baha Mar agreed to a 30-year power purchase agreement that would see the mega resort reduce its air conditioning costs by up to 90 percent relative to traditional systems and pricing.
"The energy savings generated by the project are expected to reduce consumption of 59,312 barrels of oil per year and prevent the subsequent release of 36,408 tons of CO2 each year, the IDB report said.
The project called for an offshore seawater intake located north of Long Cay and a pumping station on the island. Nearly 10,000 feet of piping would run across to a Goodman's Bay installation.
That installation on Goodman's Bay proved to be the project's undoing, as residents and environmentalists questioned the closing of the popular park for construction purposes.
Long-term effects to the ecosystem were also of concern to stakeholders.
The proposed project claimed it would generate up to 12,000 tons of air conditioning per hour, enough to provide full service to the resort's 2,250 hotel rooms, condominiums, convention center, restaurants and casino.
The status of OTEC's memorandum of understanding to construct a renewable energy plant for Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) is also unknown.

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