Good afternoon,
Thank you all for joining us.
Today marks another significant milestone in our journey toward a New Energy Era as we announce the signing of Power Purchase Agreements with two Bahamian partners who will help us transform power generation across our Family Islands.
We have made incredible progress in such a short amount of time.
When we took office in 2021, we encountered a power grid and power generation system on life support.
BPL was drowning in over half a billion dollars of debt, plus another $100 million in unfunded pension obligations. At the same time, our energy infrastructure required $500 million in critical upgrades to prevent catastrophic failure.
In New Providence, 60% of power generation equipment needed replacement, while our Family Islands were in even worse shape, with 80% of equipment requiring replacement within five years.
For Bahamian families, our energy failures caused unnecessary hardship for a population that was still staggering from the effects of Hurricane Dorian, COVID-19, a deflated economy, and crippling inflation.
We committed to taking on these challenges head-on, with energy reform near the top of our list of priorities as one of the most meaningful ways we can lower costs for families and local businesses.
Ultimately, we see energy reform as a catalyst for economic empowerment and growth for all Bahamians.
And our vision extended to every island, not just New Providence, not just the major economic and population centres, but to every island where Bahamians live, work, and raise their families.
It is an ambitious undertaking requiring the government to take on multiple Bahamian partners to deliver on our promise of widespread change.
The Power Purchase Agreements we are signing today represent our unwavering commitment to keeping that promise.
These partnerships will bring modern, reliable, affordable electricity to islands that have, for too long, endured aging infrastructure, frequent outages, and exorbitant costs.
Through these agreements, we will establish solar microgrids combined with advanced LNG and multigas systems across nine different areas in our Family Islands.
This hybrid approach represents the perfect balance for our archipelago.
We are harnessing our abundant sunshine while introducing cleaner fuels to ensure that our power needs are met, regardless of what the weather looks like.
All of our partners are Bahamian-owned enterprises with the resources to expedite development to ensure that our people will benefit from these changes as soon as possible.
In fact, each one of the PPAs we’ve signed this year will be initiated before year’s end and will be completed in 2026.
Among the companies we are partnering with today is Family Island Microgrid Co., which will develop and operate new energy systems on five islands: Harbour Island, Bimini, Moore’s Island, Farmer’s Cay, Black Point and Staniel Cay in the Exumas. These communities will soon benefit from efficient multi-gas generation.
The second partnership we are entering into today is with RenugenPro Co. Ltd. RenugenPro will bring our energy revolution to San Salvador, Long Island, and Cat Island, with solar, battery energy storage and LNG facilities.
These islands, each with their own unique energy challenges, will soon enjoy reliable, affordable electricity that should be the right of every Bahamian citizen.
The impact of these changes will be felt within months, not years.
As large-scale solar and hybrid facilities spring up throughout our archipelago, Bahamians will benefit immediately from these comprehensive energy reforms.
These are not pilot projects.
Nor are we talking about vague promises of improvements in the distant future. These projects are large-scale, fully-funded, carefully designed systems that will be operational within 18 months.
As we reap the immediate benefits of integrating large-scale solar and cleaner fuels, we are simultaneously repairing and modernising our transmission and distribution systems to be even more efficient.
We are comprehensively and holistically taking on every aspect of energy reform all at once – with over one billion dollars in targeted investments, representing the single greatest investment in energy reform in our nation’s history.
By this time next year, Bahamians across fourteen islands will experience the benefits of modern, reliable, affordable electricity.
And by 2030, 32% of our electricity needs will be met by solar power – surpassing the global target of 30%.
Finally, after years of falling behind in the adoption of renewable energy, we will lead the way using the power of the sun in this new energy era:
No more sky-high electricity bills at the end of each month.
No more sweating in the dark at night because of power failures and load shedding.
No more appliances shorting out and food going bad because the power went off for far too long.
That is the energy future we are striving for.
That is the future Bahamians deserve.
Thank you to our partners, the teams at BPL and the Ministry of Energy and Transport, and all who have worked tirelessly to make this New Energy Era possible.
Most importantly, I want to thank the Bahamian people for their patience, their trust, and their support as we undertake this historic transformation.
May God bless this endeavour, and may God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Thank you.