Arawak Port Development is seeking to install a 5MW solar array at the Nassau Container Port in the Bahamas, IJGlobal has exclusively learned.
The project is still in the planning phase, but IJGlobal was told that financing is being sought from development banks active in the region to match with Arawak equity. It was said that the project could be financed fully on balance sheet, but that the port developer is seeking to establish a relationship with international development banks.
The array would help the port to offset its daytime electricity costs, allowing it to focus electricity spending to support its nighttime operations, it was said. The onsite generation would also help to insulate the port from power outages, which have reportedly been frequent on the capital island of the Bahamas since Hurricane Matthew struck earlier this year.
The expected cost of the project was not disclosed, but Arawak reportedly plans to pursue an onsite solar facility in 2017.
While in the long-term, the company may consider battery storage to complement a solar array, the company anticipates that it would use most, if not all, of the onsite solar generation. Whatever is not used by the container terminal is expected to be sold to the Bahamas Power and Light grid.
