The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Floating Power Plant solution to New Providence’s energy crisis has been “dusted off”, with its advocates telling the government yesterday: “Send us a signal if you’re interested.”

John Bostwick II, pictured, who acted as legal adviser to the group that first proposed such a plan in 2012, told Tribune Business that the frequency and severity of power outages “most definitely calls” for such a scheme to be re-floated.

The former FNM Senator added that while no formal proposal had been made to the government, he intends to determine if there is any interest from the Minnis administration in reviving an offer that was submitted three times to its predecessor between 2012 and 2014.

“I am at least going to ask the question: Are you interested?” Mr Bostwick confirmed to this newspaper. “I think most definitely the situation calls for the re-emergence of the Floating Power Plant idea, and I really don’t know if there’s anything similar that could be such a holistic or complete solution, if only on a temporary basis.”

Asked if the Floating Power Plant proposal had been formally submitted, he replied: “The straight answer to that is: No. We have dusted off the plan, yes, but have not formally re-presented it to this government although members of this administration are purportedly aware of it.

“I personally gave it to persons in Cabinet when we sat at different tables. We are hoping that there would be further interest in the same expressed by the Government of The Bahamas so that they’d [the group] be comfortable they are not wasting time and money again. Knowing and watching what the government is doing, it’s hard to convince interested parties.”

Mr Bostwick represented the SGI Global Holdings consortium over its $250m proposal to moor two barge-based power plants at Arawak Cay when the Christie administration was in office.

The project, billed as reducing New Providence’s energy costs by 50 percent through the supply of up to 272 Mega Watts (MW), was submitted to the previous government three times - in September 2012, May 2013, and again in 2014.

The lack of progress under the former PLP administration, Mr Bostwick said, was one reason why the group he represents wants to see tangible signs that its successor is interested in the Floating Power Plant idea before it commits to re-engaging with the Government.

Tribune Business sources, though, have indicated that the Government has already explored the idea of bringing in a Floating Power Plant to stabilise BPL’s New Providence generation supply but decided against it on economic and technical grounds.

It is understood that the best place for such a solution to connect with BPL’s distribution grid is Clifton Pier, but this location has been ruled out because of the rough seas that occur in the area during bad weather.

Coral Harbour, with its newly-expanded Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) base, was also mulled as an alternative site but rejected because of the amount of time required to set it up. The Government is understood to believe that by the time a Floating Power Plant was ready to go, BPL’s newly-purchased 132 MW of new generation capacity will also be installed.

Finally, Tribune Business sources said the Government had determined there was just one Floating Power Plant facility available that met New Providence’s needs. The 100 MW plant, though, was only available for sale and not rental. And, with a purchase price of $100m or $1m per MW, the cost and total investment involved was not economically feasible.

K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, yesterday indicated the Government will seek to make available whatever financial resources BPL needs to end its present 40 MW generation shortfall and eliminate power outages/load shedding on New Providence.

This, he added, would involve either additional borrowing beyond levels set out in the 2019-2020 Budget or a repurposing of already-allocated fiscal resources. Should the Government have to do this, Mr Turnquest signalled it would have to return to Parliament to obtain approval for this and any breach of the targets set out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Mr Bostwick, meanwhile, argued that BPL’s newly-acquired Wartsila engines are “not the be all and end all” when it comes to solving New Providence’s generation supply capacity. He said the state-owned utility monopoly was bound to “need more” than the 132 MW that will provide.

BPL’s current New Providence supply capacity stands at 210 MW to meet 250 MW of peak demand, with the 40 MW shortfall giving it no choice but to load shed in three-hour blocks around the clock.

Wartsila’s 132 MW will be supplemented by a further 90 MW from Shell North America and incorporated into the latter’s new multi-fuel New Providence power plant, which is due to be completed by end-2021.

That investment is designed to provide lower cost, more reliable and cleaner energy supply for the Bahamian capital, but the Shell plant’s total 220 MW is still short of the island’s peak demand. BPL, which is supposed to be getting of the generation business to focus on transmission and distribution, and customer service, has yet to explain how that shortfall will be made up.

This summer has already proven the folly of relying on BPL’s existing aged, poorly maintained and past useful life generation equipment, while Aggreko’s rental generators are no long-term solution. Paul Maynard, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union’s (BEWU) president, previously said a 300 MW plant is required for New Providence.

Especially since the island’s population and economy are only growing. BPL, and its generation partners, will have to meet ever increasing load demand from projects such as Hurricane Hole, GoldWynn, Albany and Sarkis Izmirlian’s The Preserve, meaning more and more capacity will likely be needed.

Mr Bostwick yesterday questioned the wisdom of installing BPL’s new Wartsila engines on “the site of an environmental catastrophe” that is BPL’s Clifton Pier plant. He added that the SGI Global Holdings project he advised had included remediation of that location in its initial Floating Power Plant proposal.

“All of this is part of one big picture,” Mr Bostwick told Tribune Business. “You can’t put new engines in a contaminated field site. You have to find a way to shut those sites down, completely shut-off the engines that are there, remediate the site - which is going to take months to a year-plus - and prepare the site for new generation.”

Arguing that heavy fuel oil (HFO) and diesel generators should not be installed “anywhere in The Bahamas”, Mr Bostwick argued that the Wartsila engines and installation were from “the same old playbook we’ve been using for 60 years”.

He added that the SGI Holdings’ Floating Power Plant proposal had incorporated other features, such as $50m to upgrade BPL’s transmission network and an electricity price - set under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) - that would have effectively seen the group assume responsibility for paying BPL’s legacy debt.

The group had initially sought a seven-year agreement for generation assets that would have used compressed natural gas (CNG) as their primary fuel, but Mr Bostwick said the terms would have been negotiated according to the Government’s preference on prices and costs.