By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The government will begin dredging works for the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Clifton Pier before the end of the month, Energy and Transport Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis confirmed yesterday.

Speaking at the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly press briefing, Mrs Coleby-Davis said The Bahamas is transitioning away from its “old, unreliable” energy system to a cleaner, more affordable energy grid—and work is already underway to integrate solar and LNG into the energy mix for New Providence.

“Work has already started on utility scale, solar at Blue Hills power station, with the land cleared and construction moving ahead and before the end of this month, dredging will begin for our LNG project. This will allow us to switch to cleaner burning natural gas, a major step in cutting costs, reducing pollution and keeping pace with global energy standards,” said Mrs Coleby-Davis.

Mrs Coleby-Davis also announced that Eleuthera, Bimini, and Abaco will be the first Family Islands to have renewable energy integrated into their power grids via power purchase agreements, with work expected to be completed by the third quarter of next year.

“Through the new power purchase agreements, we are bringing in modern, reliable and cleaning power for the Family Islands. The first three islands to benefit will be Eleuthera, Bimini and Abaco, all to be completed by the third quarter of 2026,” said Mrs Coleby-Davis.

In support of modernisation efforts, the government plans to launch a pilot project for smart metering in Eleuthera, with an RFP for the national rollout of advanced metering infrastructure expected by the third quarter.

The new smart meters will automatically notify BPL about power outages.

“These are like smart meters. Instead of waiting for customers to call, the system itself will tell BPL when a home or business loses power. This will help us find problems faster and fix them quicker. A full RFP for the national rollout will be released by the third quarter of 2025,” said Mrs Coleby Davis.

Addressing ongoing public concern about high summer electricity bills, BPL CEO Toni Seymour said that surcharges rise during the peak season due to increased reliance on diesel-powered generators at Blue Hills, rather than the more cost-effective heavy fuel oil (HFO) units at Clifton Pier.

She said she expects the cost of electricity during summer months to be reduced over time due to the addition of renewable energy sources.

“We don’t expect that [bills] are going to be higher as the years go by, because as we transition to more renewable sources of energy, solar, battery, LNG, etc. It reduces our reliance on fossil fuels, where the price kind of fluctuates,” said Ms Seymour.

“We have to pass those costs on to the customer. So the more energy we can produce from renewable sources, it reduces the amount of fuel that we have to use to produce that to meet that same demand. So over time, we expect to see the cost come down.”

The Davis administration signed an agreement in March to facilitate the development of an LNG terminal at Clifton Pier.

The terminal will be a joint venture between FOCOL and Shell, with construction of the first and second phase to amount to just under $200m.

Attorney General Ryan Pinder previously stated the construction and capitalisation of the terminal will be a joint venture between FOCOL and Shell and will include the regassification and storage facility.

He said the government will purchase the fuel via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and it will then be resold to other power generators.

The terminal is expected to be producing enough natural gas to cover BPL’s base load within the next 18 months and will be constructed in phases, with the first phase expected to be completed and receiving the first shipment of natural gas by November 1.

For the pipeline, Mr Pinder said there will be a small pipeline at Clifton Pier to supply the gas from the vessels to the storage facility and the existing diesel pipeline between Clifton and Blue Hills will be replaced.