From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Minister of Works recognizes Global Energy Solution’s vision in the move to green energy
Feb 6, 2018 - 2:38:47 PM
NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Desmond Bannister applauded the efforts of Bahamas Striping Group of Companies (BSGC) and commended Global Energy Solutions for vision and foresight in providing “viable” and “meaningful” opportunities for young people in skills acquisition, ownership and economic empowerment as the country moves to green energy.
Minister Bannister was the keynote speaker at the recent launch of the formal partnership of local Global Energy Solutions with Sybac Solar, LLC, a global player in the integration of utility scale solar energy.
He said the launch represents a “milestone” which can be attributed to the hard work and commitment needed to move a concept from an idea into reality.
The Minister remarked that the conversation about renewable energy sources is a topical one particularly as it relates to the use of solarization as an alternative source of energy.
He reiterated similar sentiments echoed at the opening of the 18th annual Platts Caribbean Energy Conference, and recent meetings with representatives of the Carbon War Room (an international non-governmental organization and think tank on solutions to climate change) and the Rocky Mountain Institute with respect to Prime Minister Minnis’ vision of developing Ragged Island into a green island.
The project, he said, is off to a “robust” start and will soon be a showcase of what a modern, energy efficient Bahamas powered by clean renewable energy will look like.
Moreover, Minister Bannister stated that the launch serves as a foretaste of what the future of the Bahamas powered by renewable energy will be, a reminder of the Government’s vision of reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuel imports by means of renewable energy, and the commitment to lower the cost of energy.
“I remind you tonight as I told our international guests last week, that here in The Bahamas we face critical challenges in the energy sector. As an archipelago we must provide energy to numerous islands, all diverse and each in differing stages of development. There is no magic formula that provides an answer to every need. We, therefore, have listened with interest to the visionaries at Bahamas Striping, and we shall consider many of the ideas that they propose as we seek to make decisions that will impact the lifestyles of the Bahamian people for decades to come.
“Critical to us are cost effective, progressive ideas as to applications with respect to renewable energy. Every year we face the threat of hurricanes that may impact the vibrancy of our many islands. Finding a niche in the spectrum of opportunity will be of great value to our country.
“We have the perfect environment to foster small scale renewable generation in our many family islands, and we embrace this emerging technology to assist in the further development and modernization of our energy infrastructure as we seek to improve our conservation and efficiency capabilities,” said Minister Bannister.
He outlined an “aggressive” agenda by the Ministry of Public Works to transform the Ministry and to embrace the opportunity for transformation in its affiliate agencies including Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited (BPL).
The company’s new executive team has advised that there is no simple solution to the country’s energy problem. And although The Bahamas is considered a developing nation, the country’s energy profile closely resembles that of North America.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Minister Bannister informed that despite this challenge, The Bahamas has made “tremendous” inroads in the energy sector.
“We continue to focus on the development of a comprehensive governance/regulatory framework to effectively support the advancement of the energy sector to be effectively able to facilitate energy conservation and efficiency through the introduction of renewable energy sources such as solar, ocean energy, biofuels, waste to energy and, where possible, wind.
“We anticipate that shortly we will build a new state of the art generating plant on this island with the best in class efficiencies for single cycle power generation. This new facility will not only improve our generation capacity and modernize our plant, but will also provide newer technologies together with higher levels of energy conservation and improved efficiencies when compared to existing assets,” he added.
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