The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has launched an informal consultation process over "battery energy storage integration" as it seeks to facilitate greater adoption of renewable energies.

Avrom Thompson, a legal officer with the energy regulator, told a public hearing on its 2023 annual plan that URCA has been focused on service quality and promoting the integration of environmentally sustainable sources into The Bahamas' energy mix.

“The first project is the licensee annual plant and operations inspections. This initiative aims to develop the framework necessary to conduct inspections of licensees. The objective is to verify the assets and the rate base, ensure compliance with regulations and evaluate operational practices," he said.

The second is to provide “technical standards for the electricity sector”, where the regulator will seek to “re-establish and enhance technical supply standards” that were “omitted” from the Electricity Act 2015. “This project is therefore directly related to our focus on quality of service, since it includes addressing the areas of major outage definition, power quality standards and reliability standards,” Mr Thompson said.

“The next project is the generation licence project, which aims to broaden the range of licences available in the electricity sector. The objective is to include entities operating generation facilities, exceeding one Mega Watt (MW), for self supply purposes.

"Another significant project is the development of account separation guidelines for public electricity suppliers. Both public electricity suppliers and authorised public electricity suppliers are required to maintain separate accounts for generation, transmission and supply services, primarily to aid in tariff setting. This project therefore aims to establish the framework for licensee account separation," he continued.

“Lastly, in line with URCA's commitment to developing our regulatory framework and promoting renewable energy, we have the battery energy storage integration project. Battery energy storage systems have shown various technical benefits that can be harnessed in generation, transmission and distribution systems.

"The objective of this project is therefore to review the technology available and its applications, and to assess the sector's interest in such projects. We therefore plan to engage in an informal consultation process to gather feedback and insight from stakeholders and, in fact, our informal consultation is currently available on URCA’s website for this project.”

Bryann Hepburn, an URCA regulatory officer with responsibility for the electricity sector, said Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) “efficiency audit” for 2022 had been postponed because of the change in the utility's leadership.

"The next project that the electricity sector embarked on in 2022 would be the renewable energy utility-scale development regulation," she added. "URCA currently has frameworks in place to accommodate renewable energy generation by residential, commercial and government entities, which are addressed through our renewable energy sub-generation and small-scale renewable generation frameworks.

“In keeping with, and in support of, the Government's national energy policy objective of achieving 30 percent renewable energy penetration by 2030, and in compliance with section 26 of the Electricity Act, URCA sought to advance regulations that would facilitate utility scale projects.”