BY DESTINY JOHNSON
Journal Staff Writer

The Government of The Bahamas in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) has signed a contract with the Bahamas Power and Light Company (BPL) and the
Caribbean Centre for Energy and Energy Efficiency (CREEE) for their integrated resource and
resilience plan.
Chief Executive Officer of BPL Shevonn Cambridge said the goal with this project is to integrate
renewables throughout The Bahamas before 2030.
“Basically, what the Integrated Resource and Resilience Plan does is look at the assets that the
utility has and the goals that we have in terms of migrating to more efficient production,
particularly the integration of renewables, and they do that in the most efficient manner,”
Cambridge said on Tuesday.
“So it looks at how do we retire existing assets, or how do we look at any additional capacity that
we need and the integration of renewables. This plan is not only just for New Providence, but it
also faces how we as a utility evolve throughout The Bahamas of the integration of renewables in
the most efficient and effective manner.”
CREEE was established in 2018 by the Heads of Government to help member states navigate the
energy transition.
Executive Director of CREEE Dr. Gary Jackson said this plan is essential in helping vulnerable
countries bounce back from disaster.
“But what is more important is understanding the climate impacts. You’ll have experienced
Dorian. And one of the things that we want to look at is, within this plan, is looking at mitigation
and adaptation strategies that you may need to have, given the high heat that you are
experiencing now, the hurricanes that you may experience.
“You may be resilient in the way that you’ll be able to rebound from the impact in a fast,
recovery time on the multiplicity of activities that you would have within this plan.
“So we are very happy to participate with the Government of The Bahamas on this and we look
forward to what we call all hands on deck.”
With the country actively aiming to reach 30 percent renewables by 2030, Financial Secretary
Simeon Wilson gave a bit of insight into what this will mean for Bahamians in the future.
“One, it’s going to lead to a more stable cost of electricity”, he explained. “That’s the first thing.
Number two, it’s obviously going to have a very, very important impact on the climate, because

we need way less fossil fuels and more renewable energy. And the third thing is, is that,
hopefully, it’s going to lead to, in some aspects, a lower cost.
“So we have stability in cost, and then we also have a lower cost, which is two different things.
Hopefully. A lower cost. Those are three big things for the renewable energy plan. If done
correctly.”
Funding for this project will come from the IDB, the government and through public, private
partnerships.