Published On:Friday, September 25, 2009

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

Renewable energy is too costly, takes up too much land and is unable to supply the continuous electricity needed to meet Abaco's power needs, presentations on behalf of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) have argued, although attendees at the Wilson City power plant town told Tribune Business yesterday the alternatives had not been properly explored.

A BEC presentation on alternative energy forms, given at the Wilson City meeting, suggested that waste-to-energy would never be suitable for Abaco's energy needs, since the island produced less than 3,000 tonnes of waste per month.

It said that to supply one megawatt of power per month, some 280 tonnes of waste per hour, or 9,120 tonnes per day, would be required - an amount well in excess of Abaco's monthly power needs.

With waste-to-energy ruled out, the BEC presentation said ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), wave and tidal energy were "not sufficiently advanced to provide useful power on a utility scale at this time".

As for solar power, a power-generation technology the Bahamas seems ideally suited to, the capacity factor for a solar Photovoltaic plant at Abaco's latitude was pegged at around 21 per cent or less.

When it came to the comparative costs of power production, as a percentage of diesel generation, the BEC presentation showed wind was 220 per cent more expensive; waste-to-energy some 340 per cent more expensive; and solar 450 per cent more expensive.

And as for land requirements, some 360 acres would be required to house a 48 megawatt (MW) wind farm featuring 50-metre towers; 1,920 acres to site a solar facility; and 20 acres set aside for waste-to-energy power production.

In short, the BEC presentation on renewable energy concluded: "Renewables have a greater land requirement. Renewables presently are more costly than traditional sources of electricity production.

"Wind and solar do not provide continuous sources of power, and will require traditional sources of power for most of the time".

However, while acknowledging that renewable, sustainable forms of energy had the ability to contribute to the Bahamas' energy security, they would only "eventually be integrated into the power production process in a limited way".

The presentation seemed designed to dampen expectations about how useful renewable, sustainable energy would be in meeting Abaco's power needs - and, indeed, those of the wider Bahamas.

One attendee at the Abaco Town Meeting on the Wilson City power plant, speaking to Tribune Business on condition of anonymity, said BEC "didn't give any basis" for its decision and views on renewable energy sources in the context of the island's energy needs.

He added that while BEC said the average wind speed on Abaco per year was seven knots, historical data showed it was really around 16 knots. For renewable energy derived from wing, the latter figure was in the Class 6 (outstanding) category, and just below Class 7 (superb).

The source told Tribune Business that while a wind farm would be double the cost of the proposed $105 million Wilson City, Bunker C fuel-burning, plant, that could be "made back in a couple of years" from the likes of carbon emission credits.

In addition, he explained that wind farms did not automatically render the land where they were located useless for any other application, pointing out that they co-existed quite well with farmland.

Arguing that the Government's approach to renewable energies appeared designed to protect BEC, and prevent people from generating their own power, the source said of the proposed National Energy Policy (NEP): "It's pretty obvious they have no intention of considering renewable energy sources for another 20-30 years.

"They're doing a few projects, but are not going after it in an aggressive sense. What the Bahamas government deems is the cheapest way to generate electricity, that's the policy.

"They haven't considered it [renewable energy] at all. They give it lip service, so people feel all warm and fuzzy. All this talk is to placate people and show them they're doing something."