By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday admitted that while the Bahamas may have been “slow out of the gate” on renewable energy, it was now moving aggressively to close the gap.

Kenred Dorsett, minister of the environment, highlighted request for proposals (RFP) for several ‘utility scale’ renewable energy projects when speaking ona panel at the fifth Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF).

He stressed that the recently-revived Residential Energy Self-Generation programme would be used to help small-scale Bahamian renewable providers.

“I know the outside world wants to come in and invest in renewables, but as a government we have tried to carve out the RESG programme to develop Bahamian business and Bahamian enterprises, so that Bahamians don’t find themselves looking through the glass of opportunity and not be able to install these photovoltaic (PV) systems on homes and businesses. We have to carve that out for our people,” said Mr Dorsett.

He added that in the next few days, the RESG programme will be launched, allowing consumers to connect to the grid and receive a credit for the excess energy they sell to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL).

    Mr Dorsett said: “Utility scale, we will put it out for open bid, but for the smaller ones we have to save something for Bahamians. I say that unashamedly.

“We will be moving for RFPs for the national stadium as well as the University of The Bahamas campus. The electricity bill for our National Stadium  is $25,000-$30,000 per month. That gets paid out of the public purse. The Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) will also be going out to tender later in the year for a utility-scale solar facility there.”

    Mr Dorsett said that within the next few months, a pilot project for a commercial-scale solar set-up would be launched at the Anatol Rodgers High School, a project made possible via a $667,000 grant from the Italian government “as part of  its commitment to assist with renewable energy deployment in CARICOM members states”.

Mr Dorsett said: “After that we will see RFPs in the public domain for the remaining 176 schools.”

He added that the Bahamas intends to implement emissions regulations in 2019, and will look to explore biomass on Andros, Abaco and Grand Bahama.