By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Up to 50 workers will be hired for the proposed build-out of five solar microgrids designed to help “ease cost of living concerns” and entice former residents to return to Dorian-ravaged east Grand Bahama.

The project’s environmental and social impact assessment, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, disclosed that cost is the primary energy-related concern for more than three-quarters of the residents in an area which waited around one year for electricity to be restored after the devastating Category Five storm.

Now, armed with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Ministry of Finance is pushing to boost energy infrastructure resilience in Grand Bahama’s east by developing five solar photovoltaic (PV) microgrids in Freetown, High Rock, McClean’s Town, Sweeting’s Cay and Water Cay.

All will be equipped with battery energy storage systems (BESS) to ensure the systems can still generate sufficient energy for these sparsely populated communities when the sun is not shining. Besides enabling their infrastructure and related utilities to rebound more quickly in the aftermath of a major storm, the project is also seeking to increase and deepen renewable energy penetration in rural areas.

“The rehabilitation and modernisation of The Bahamas’ energy system represents an opportunity to strengthen isolated and interconnected grid networks with reliant renewable energy designed to withstand the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events,” the environmental and social impact statement said.

Kwasi Thompson, the east Grand Bahama MP, told Tribune Business yesterday that he has been seeking an update on the project’s fate from virtually the moment that the Davis administration took office in September 2021. He added that it was first conceived under the former Minnis administration, and when he was a member of Cabinet, but it is only now that it is being executed and implemented.

“The Minnis administration had left in place a microgrid project for east Grand Bahama,” he said. “I have been asking for an update since the first Budget exercise [by the Davis administration]. I have been asking the Government to update the public with what is happening with that project.” Mr Thompson declined to make any further comments until after next Thursday’s public consultation with his constituents.

Microgrids are effectively self-sufficient energy systems that serve small communities such as those typically found in east Grand Bahama. An analysis of the project’s economic and social impacts, performed as part of Waypoint Consulting’s environmental assessment by Nassau-based The Heritage Partners, suggested the improved supply reliability and reduced energy costs promised by the project will entice more former residents to return home.

“In the ADI (area of direct influence), economic conditions have improved since Hurricane Dorian but it is difficult to assess the degree of such improvements,” Heritage Partners said in an April 2024 report. “The few tourist accommodations that were present in the ADI were, in the main, either significantly damaged or completely destroyed after Hurricane Dorian, and the majority have not been rebuilt to date.

“Respondents to our survey cite that many community members have emigrated to other parts of Grand Bahama or outside of the ADI due to housing insecurity resulting from the storm, cost of living concerns, and lack of employment opportunities. The project would presumably incentivise rebuilding efforts, alleviate cost of living concerns and encourage community members to return to the ADI.”

Of the 53 east Grand Bahama residents said to have been surveyed, more than half described themselves as self-employed. “The project is estimated to create up to 50 jobs in the ADI during the construction period, and will require the appointment of a local workforce,” the report said. “These workers are expected to be sourced from the ADI where possible... or from other places in The Bahamas.

“The construction period will range from six to 12 months. After the construction period, there is expected to be ongoing operations and maintenance at the project sites. As the project moves out of the construction phase and into the operations phase, there will likely be a subsequent decrease in the workforce requirements.”

A potential housing shortage was, though, identified if construction workers have to be imported from outside east Grand Bahama. “Hurricane Dorian resulted in the damage and destruction of many of the residences in east Grand Bahama, and the subsequent displacement of community members,” the Heritage Partners report said.

“To-date, the rebuilding efforts have been steady though hindered by economic concerns, and a sizable portion of the displaced population has since returned to the ADI. There is a concern as to whether sufficient housing exists to meet the needs of the project workforce, especially in the case of non-local workers. Additional housing may therefore be needed.”

As to the energy-related concerns of Grand Bahama residents, obtained via a February and March 2024 survey, the report said: “Respondents generally spoke of being greatly impacted by Hurricane Dorian, especially with regard to energy supply.

“According to them, they were without electricity for almost a full year. Some Sweetings Cay residents told our team that they were without power for up to two years. A great number of respondents left the ADI due to storm damage, and relocated to other parts of Grand Bahama or off-island.

“The majority of those who remained in east Grand Bahama used fuel-powered electric generators for energy supply. These were either purchased by the residents in question or were donated to residents by NGOs (non-governmental organisations) operating in Grand Bahama post-Dorian,” Heritage Partners added.

“The cost of fuelling the generators was reported as ranging between $60 a week to $500 a week, depending on the energy needs of the household in question. Residents also resorted to the use of kerosene lamps, as well as solar hand lights that were supplied to them by NGOs.

“To-date, electricity supply has been fully restored by Grand Bahama Power Company throughout the ADI, with the exception of Water Cay. Each survey respondent but one - a Freetown resident who is in the process of rebuilding his home - is currently being provided with electrical power from GB Power.”

Some east Grand Bahama residents were still said to be using generators, and ten survey respondents said they were on “temporary power” with GB Power as opposed to full power. The utility said this was because those in question are still rebuilding post-Dorian, and will be converted to “full power” once they get the necessary approvals and occupancy certificate.

“Although temporary power is typically intended for construction purposes, it appears to be a common practice for residents who are in the process of rebuilding while living in their homes to use temporary power to supply their homes with electricity,” Heritage Partners reported.

“Temporary service is more expensive than permanent service (25.85 cents per kilowatt hour for temporary compared to 17.56 cents per kWH for 0-200 kWh up to 23.71 cents for over 800 kWH) and the supply is limited, so respondents on temporary power report that they must ration which appliances they can use at any one time or else their circuit breaker will trip.”

“Said one respondent, a married mother of 2 from Rocky Creek: ‘On temporary power...you can’t run all your stuff or the lights will dim and the breaker will trip. For me, it almost caused a fire when my stuff started to spark....

“I don’t have a heater, no AC, no microwave. I have one TV, two lightbulbs in my whole house. One fan and only a gas stove. I don’t understand why my power bill is so high, because I don’t be running nothing like that. I only turn my lights on at night, so why I paying $80 or $90 a month’?”

As for electricity-related concerns, Heritage Partners said power costs were the leading worry for 39 or 72.22 percent of survey respondents, while a further 11 percent cited reliability and incidents of load shedding and outages as their primary fear.