The Ministry of Finance Project Execution Unit – ‘Reconstruction with Resilience in the Energy Sector of The Bahamas’ held a workshop and pre-bid meeting for Documents for National & International Competitive Bidding at Choices Restaurant, University of The Bahamas, on April 4, 2023.
Simon Wilson, Financial Secretary, said the workshop was being held to help Bahamian vendors become more successful in securing contracts for future renewable energy projects in the country.
Mr. Wilson said there are Bahamians talented enough to complete the projects, but they sometimes lack the knowledge to properly complete the bidding documents thus hampering their chances of becoming successful bidders.
He noted that the government’s focus on renewable energy could be transformative to the country’s utility company and to the nation as a whole, and there are several projects that have already been successfully completed.
Marco Rolle, Programme Coordinator, said this is the second workshop in the push to grow the solar renewable sector in The Bahamas. “We will continue to have these workshops so that you (the vendors) can become better informed and better engaged in dealing with the various documents you will be called upon to complete.
“We want to make sure that when you receive these documents, you are not baffled and frustrated by them; that you can work with them very smoothly and answer the questions in such a fashion that when you submit those to us they just fly through the system.”
Renewable energy projects are being funded by the IDB Loan Programme to advance deployment of renewable energy in The Bahamas. The IDB Loan Programme comprises an $80 million loan supplemented with a $9 million grant provided by the European Union.
One of the projects included in this programme is the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Bahamas Power and Light Company Ltd. ‘s (BPL) Blue Hills Power Station (BHPS). The BESS facility will provide a spinning reserve and inject a new level of resilience and smartness into the existing Nassau grid.
The focus is now on the islands of MICAL (Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Island) and the Abacos.
Contracts have already been issued in preparation for the installation of the micro-grids on the islands of MICAL. These micro-grids are a part of the Government’s priority on climate change and renewable energy. The identified sites for the micro-grids are on or near existing Bahamas Power and Light power plants.
By LLONELLA GILBERT/Bahamas Information Services
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