The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama Power Company’s chief executive yesterday warned Caribbean renewable energy ambitions risk remaining unrealised without bankable projects, clear commercial terms and financing.

Speaking during a discussion at the 2026 CARILEC Resilience Renewable Energy Community conference and exhibition, Nikita Mullings said the Caribbean must ensure its energy transition goals are backed by commercially viable projects, adequate resources and teams capable of delivering them.

“We want to ensure that we have projects that are indeed bankable, with clear commercial terms. We want to ensure that whatever the goals and the ambitions are, we have financing to back those projects,” she said. 

“We also want to ensure we have a clear resource plan. We want to ensure that we are upgrading the grid, ensuring that there is storage, and upgrading human capacity for training to ensure that as we integrate renewables on to the grid, we're able to withstand and sustain those.”

Mrs Mullings identified financing and project execution as the biggest gaps holding back the Caribbean's energy transition, arguing that bankable projects must be matched with teams capable of delivering them and clear accountability for results.

“Policy is what I like to say creates direction. Planning is what prepares for the investment, and then what we need is sessions like this where you have leadership that'll drive those through to results,” she said.

Toni Seymour, Bahamas Power & Light's (BPL) chief executive, agreed that financing was a major obstacle, particularly for The Bahamas, where electricity infrastructure must serve a widely dispersed archipelago with multiple islands and separate grids.

“I think for us that would be what I would consider our greatest challenge,” she said, noting that while The Bahamas had established a national energy policy and made legislative changes ahead of its “new energy era”, securing the capital needed to implement projects remains difficult.

Mrs Seymour also argued that the different circumstances across Caribbean islands meant there was no single approach to the energy transition that will work everywhere.

“What works in New Providence doesn't necessarily work in Grand Bahama, doesn't necessarily work in Bermuda,” she said, pointing to the importance of sharing knowledge and lessons from renewable energy developments across the region.

She cited Barbados and Dominica as examples of Caribbean countries from which others could learn, while arguing that regional co-operation can help utilities identify suitable technologies and develop actionable plans for their respective islands.

Mrs Seymour said The Bahamas had begun its energy transition later than some regional partners, but argued that this has allowed it to learn from their experiences and assess which technologies and approaches are most suitable.

She said the country is pursuing an aggressive schedule ahead of 2030, including independent power producers (IPPs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs), while pointing to progress that delegates will see during a tour of BPL's battery energy storage system.

However, Mrs Seymour warned that the commercial terms of renewable energy projects will be critical to whether customers ultimately benefit from the transition.

While the IPP model can reduce the upfront capital that utilities themselves must provide, Mrs Seymour said some costs will still be passed on to consumers. Projects must therefore be priced correctly to ensure that savings on fuel translate into lower electricity costs.

“You got to get the costing right because if it's not less than the cost of fuel - the fuel savings - they don't see any benefit in their bottom lines,” she said.

Mrs Seymour added that customers continue to expect reliable electricity while seeking relief from high bills, creating a difficult balance between affordability, reliability and the transition to cleaner energy.

Mrs Mullings said that tension will remain a challenge for utilities, as customers could be reluctant to pay the actual cost of renewable energy while continuing to demand reliable service.

The executives also raised concerns about the implementation of energy policies and regulations. 

Mrs Mullings said discussions with regional regulators had highlighted instances where regulations were established but not implemented, while competing priorities could delay the execution of policies and strategies.

Mrs Seymour said policymakers, regulators and utilities need to be aligned and moving in the same direction if the Caribbean is to accelerate the transition.

Asked what should be done within the next six to 12 months to move from ambition to implementation, Mrs Seymour called for greater alignment among the institutions responsible for energy policy and delivery.

Mrs Mullings said Caribbean countries first needed to define what success looks like before developing the strategies and resource plans required to achieve it.