The Bahamas Government, through the Ministry of the Environment, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) participated in a ceremonial signing held at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, November 13, 2017 forging an agreement to reduce our collective dependence on fossil fuels. The initiative plans to introduce the construction of a large-scale solar car park, which will be connected to the national grid, supplied at the Queen Elizabeth II Sports Center on Thompson Boulevard, and funded by a regional grant from the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund.

“In addition to the high cost of fuel, countries like The Bahamas are experiencing the negative effects of climate change; even now as our sea levels rise, our oceans acidify, and as temperatures rise, we can still shine as a beacon for others to see as we move to mitigate these effects and reduce our carbon footprint,” said the Hon. Romauld Ferreira, Minister of the Environment & Housing.

“This project, approved by both governments for funding, will diversify our energy supply through the introduction of approximately 1 Megawatt of solar power to the national grid. Although we may seem as far as east is from west, both countries have come to the same conclusion, that reliable renewable energy consistently lowers power costs, as well as provides job creation to truly create sustainable development and reduce our negative impact on our global shared resources.”

Minister Ferreira added that this is “one of the many pipelines to introduce safe, affordable, renewable energy across The Bahamas” by beginning with solarizing government assets.

“We must lead by example. With over 300 solar ray days, The Bahamas is perfectly positioned to sustainably resource one of our greatest assets, the sun, to reduce one of our greatest liabilities, our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Minister Ferreira.

“Partnerships like these remind us that while some may wish to stick the proverbial head in the sand, there are others who will stand with us to address one of this generation’s most complicated issues: that of climate change. We look forward to forging stronger alliances with the UAE and partners like them and to the successful completion of this 1 MW solar car park and electric car charging stations.” 

By Gena Gibbs

Bahamas Information Services