By Riel Major

THE seven multi-fuel engines that will power Bahamas Power and Light’s Station A electricity plant will mean "an end to load shedding" according to the company's chairman.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday to unveil the new engines, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis added that the engines “will fix long-standing and vexing problems in New Providence", and said that the country knew for years that BPL and our energy sector were in desperate need of reform. He said it did not have the funding needed to meet its past, current and future obligations.

“Its machines were old and inadequate. BPL as we met it was in a state of collapse. Its ability to reliably and consistently generate power was near total collapse. On coming to office, we made the reform of BPL a priority. The last administration chose not to make the tough decisions needed to reform the company and to introduce meaningful energy sector reform,” he said.

“Such reform was necessary to help power New Providence, the main driver and engine of our economy. Such reform was urgently needed to boost economic growth and productivity. Such reform was necessary and urgent to bring down energy costs for homes, businesses and the public sector. The previous administration allowed the status quo to remain. It was a status quo that was dragging down our economy. It was a status quo that too many administrations allowed to continue.”

He continued: “As Prime Minister and as a government, if we chose to continue with the status quo, what we witnessed in New Providence this summer would have been our permanent fate throughout the year and well into the future. BPL was in desperate need of new generators, funding and other infrastructure in order for there to be stable, reliable, reasonably priced electricity now and in the future. We chose to act. We chose to do the difficult things to ensure the problem would be fixed."

The prime minister said Station A will be a major part of the reform and will eventually lower the costs for families, homes, businesses and potential new investors from home and abroad.

He said: “Energy sector reform and the lowering of energy costs are vital to lower the cost of living for Bahamians and the cost of doing business. This is the largest single power plant in Bahamian history. It will allow BPL to stabilise supply to New Providence. It will facilitate our transition to cleaner, more affordable fuel.

“Having modern, more efficient generators using less expensive and cleaner fuel will reduce the cost of electricity for all Bahamians and residents. The Bahamian people elected my Government to fix long-standing problems others did not, could not or would not fix. This new plant is testament to our commitment to be doers on behalf of the Bahamian people. “

He added: “While others talk about what should be done, you can see here what we have done. Our mission is to improve The Bahamas on behalf of the good people who elected us to government to work on their behalf.”

Dr Minnis criticised the former government for “wastefully spending millions of dollars" renting generators.

“The terrible neglect, pandering and indecision by the previous government compounded the problems at BPL. There was no strategy for the future. There were no comprehensive investments in new equipment and infrastructure,” he said.

“They just kept kicking the can down the road. They did not make difficult decisions and they did not fix many other vexing problems like the New Providence landfill. My government is committed to addressing long-standing problems, including the problems here at BPL. This administration was elected on a promise to expand and to grow our economy. This new Station A, and the Wartsila engines it houses, mean decades of clean, less costly, reliable power for New Providence."

He added: “There is still much more work to be done at BPL for it to be the modern power utility that the people of the Bahamas deserve and demand. The Government is committed to working with BPL to continue the progress we see today. But we will also hold BPL accountable on behalf of the Bahamian people. This power plant is only one step, albeit an important one, in the journey BPL must make to restore the confidence of Bahamians.”

BPL chairman Donovan Moxey said they are fixing the problems that have plagued BPL literally for generations.

Mr Moxey said: “The customers who are here represents thousands of Bahamians who had to put up with an unreliable electricity utility. It’s made it harder to do everything from running your business to cooking dinner in your home. We recognised that and we are committed to fixing it once and for all. That is why we are all here today. This new power plant is a game changer for BPL. It’s a game changer for the Bahamian people.

“These seven new Wartsila state-of-the-art engines will generate 130MW of power and provide consistent and reliable power to the grid. While minimising our overall carbon footprint. Thanks to their versatility and ability to burn less extensive fuels the cost for our customers will go down as fuel savings expand. Most importantly, these engines dramatically increase our generation capacity.”

He added: “We’ll be able to take other units offline to repair without impacting our overall generation. As well as retire units that are less efficient and beyond their useful life. More than anything else it means we have much need capacity in our system. So come this summer when peak demand is in 260MW we will have over 300MW of available power.

“There will be an end to load shedding. This facility along with other facets of our turn-around strategy will help make load shedding a thing of the past in New Providence and that is something we can all celebrate.”