Nassau Solar Energy Storage System

On a kilowatt-hour (kWh) by kilowatt-hour basis, solar's your best, but you need to add battery energy storage capacity in order to reach higher levels of penetration,” he noted. “Nassau's [the Bahamas' largest city] is a pretty big grid, and it can take a fair bit of solar without storage,” Burgess continued.

The Bahamian government owns and manages property rooftops, parking lots and green spaces, on which solar power projects could be developed. Several projects that capitalize on that solar power potential are underway, Jones Bahamas points out.

Development of the four solar-fueled power systems will set the stage to scale the Family Islands solar program across the island chain's outlying islands, as well as contribute to the Bahamas achieving a national goal of renewable energy resources meeting 30% of electricity needs by 2030.

An interactive, two-way grid is required given any grid-connected distributed solar or renewable energy, however, he added. “Studies have shown that the New Providence grid (which serves Nassau) can take at least 8 megawatts (MW) of solar without worrying about storage.

BPL Chairman Donovan Moxey was quoted in a Tribune Business news report. The Bahamas is a very difficult place to generate electricity, distribute it and sell it, even as compared to other Caribbean islands, Chris Burgess, Islands Energy Program projects director, told Solar Magazine.

The Bahamas has been taking steps to end the state-owned utility's energy monopoly and reduce the energy sector's carbon and environmental footprints in line with national and international greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change goals. Government leaders have earmarked $170 million for renewable energy financing in the 2019–2020 budget.