A business leader with expertise in attracting climate financing says he is reserving judgement on the viability of wind power in Bermuda.

Kevin Richards, the managing director of Bermuda Asset Management, hosted a three-day Bermuda Day Forum as part of COP28 in Dubai, presenting to key stakeholders in the United Arab Emirates with potential investment interest in Bermuda.

Mr Richards, who progressed his career with one of North America’s biggest companies, General Electric, said while he supports wind energy, he is uncertain if it is a good fit for an island as small as Bermuda.

He told The Royal Gazette: “My personal preference is around tidal wave and floating solar energy if we can get the right materials to protect from salt content. I don’t think anyone has done the $3 million environmental impact assessment for wind energy — until that is done and the protectors of our environment sign off on us being able to build wind then yes, let’s go and talk about raising capital to do it.

“I worked for GE. I’m a fan of wind. I just don’t know if our small island is the right fit. I think some of the other solutions are scaled down to fit our energy needs and wouldn’t disrupt our traditional incumbent in Belco, which is something we need to be very careful about as we bring on new generation capacity. We need to think how that integrates.

“Wind energy is typically a big infrastructure project and the investment is huge. The others you can do on smaller scales with a smaller [carbon] footprint, and you could find locations for them more readily. I don’t think we have seen the public discussion around the smaller-scale solutions as we have about wind.

“I think there is still a lot more work to be done on the offshore wind.”

In the summer, the Regulatory Authority outlined the potential for a 60-megawatt wind farm in Bermuda. It said it was slated to be completed by the end of 2029 if given approval, could cost between $250 million and $450 million and would generate about 30 per cent of the annual electricity demand in Bermuda.

Mr Richards added: “There have been a lot of scientists arguing about carbon, and it slows us down as a society — we don’t have time. We need to move fast and find solutions. We are talking, talking, talking and nothing’s happening.

“We have capital and a strategy. We need to move and attract new people to increase our population, and continue to push the utility to do what they said — deploy renewable energy. I know they have great Bermudian minds that are working there, but they have had some major setbacks. We have to keep pushing to deploy new technology and attract capital to the country so we can keep moving forward.”

Mr Richard said once the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility has undergone renovations, more energy could be created through that system.

David Burt and Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, were at COP28 and guest speakers at BAM’s When Worlds Collide Bermuda Day: SDG Disrupter Summit. Alexia Hufti, the government consultant to the Middle East, also took part.

The Premier held meetings in and out of COP28, including with Thani bin Ahmed al-Zeyoudi, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade for the United Arab Emirates, to discuss how Bermuda can strengthen ties with the country.

Mr Richards has been building relationships with investors in the Middle East for the past two years after a meeting in London with Abu Dhabi Global Markets, an international financial centre, in 2018.

In 2021, Mr Richards was invited to a dinner in Monaco with the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre, a leading free zone headquartered in Dubai, and the Monaco Government, where he raised capital and established relationships.

During the Bermuda Day Forum at the See Institute Hub for Sustainable Education and Research in the Sustainable City in Dubai, BAM screened a film about Bermuda called The Heart of The Sea, which will be premiered in Bermuda in January.

In it, scientists, poets and political leaders showcase Bermudians doing groundbreaking science to protect marine ecosystems.

There were also representatives from Paradise Mobile discussing 5G, speakers from Bermuda’s youth panel and BioQuest, part of Carika Weldon’s CariGenetics initiative.

There was a reception with the De Bacci Noble Family. Mr Richards said: “The tie-in was these are the sort of people we are courting, high net worth with deep networks of influential, prominent or innovative people.”

Co-hosts included Alexader Salzman, of Visionary Access Network, and Peter Kudera, of Impact Investor.

“I talked about some things I am trying to do within Bermuda around asset management with food security as my main focus,” Mr Richards explained.

“It was a great showcase about how much we have done historically and how much we are doing today around innovation, and how innovation will enable the sustainable transition to accelerate.

"I am trying to be the tip of the spear to bring new projects and solutions to the country, finance them and then scale them.“