Baha Mar has announced a five-year contract for a "state-of-the-art" chilled water plant (CWP), which will cool air conditioning systems for the entire Baha Mar property.
Robert Sands, Baha Mar's senior vice-president, administration and external affairs, welcomed the contract with DTEC Plant Services, Ltd., a Bahamian company and subsidiary of DCO Energy.
DTEC will manage the maintenance and operations of Baha Mar's CWP and emergency backup generator in the event of blackouts from the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The five-year contract will create six new jobs for Bahamians.
DCO Energy President and CEO Frank DiCola added that the "unique project" would result in enhanced operating performance for the resort.
However, Sands clarified that the new contract was the first step in transitioning to a seawater air conditioning (SWAC) system for Baha Mar.
"It is our intention to migrate from this state-of-the-art chilled water plant to a deep-sea water system in a number of years, once we get through the necessary government approval process," said Sands, arguing that the ambitious deep-sea cooling system would lead to greater savings for the resort over time.
SWAC systems function by utilizing cold seawater to cool incoming freshwater, which then directly cools structures without any conversion to electricity. The practice has risen in prominence over the past decade, with several resorts adopting SWAC systems.
"Although the chilled water plant is a state-of-the-art system, it still uses a tremendous amount of electricity. When we migrate to a deep-sea cooling system, it will require far, far less use of electricity and...will be much more environmentally-friendly," stated Sands.
Last week, Baha Mar announced that it would delay its grand opening from December 2014 until early 2015 after months of speculation.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian