by Larry Smith
A spokesman for the state-owned Bahamas Electricity Corporation's Renewable Energy Committee said about 30 "serious international players" had responded to the Request for Proposals that closed on September 12 (see earlier posts on this site).
"The interest has been high," the spokesman said. "We had interest from people considered serious players in the renewable energy market internationally."
The committee will review the proposals over the next three months and then undertake a more detailed evaluation of the shortlisted projects, including site visits. Following that recommendations will be made.
The expectation is that BEC will have agreements in place with renewable energy providers by mid-2009, although actual generation of power may take longer to achieve.
"It is not unfeasible that we could have several providers," the spokesman said.
BEC asked for renewable energy proposals using four technologies - solar, wind, hydrokinetic and biomass - to generate up to 10 per cent of any Bahamian island's electricity needs. The goal is to reduce the country's reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Last year, BEC paid about $300 million for fuel. This year higher fuel costs drove the nation's consumer fuel surcharge to 24 cents a kilowatt hour in August. Rising public concern led the government to announce a cap on the surcharge at 15 cents for customers who use less than 800 kilowatt hours per month.
Over 5,000 customers in Nassau and Freeport who had been cut off by BEC for non-payment also had their service restored on the orders of the Cabinet.
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