An energy blueprint now open for feedback would more than halve the island’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, in part with significant investment in renewable energy and a switch from power generation using heavy fuel oil to light fuel.

The “preferred portfolio” proposed in the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan would add an extra ten years to the life of the Belco utility plant’s East Power Station engines, and would deliver “85 per cent renewable energy by 2040”, cutting carbon emissions by 82 per cent by 2043 compared with 2022 levels.

Engines at the East Power Station are set to retire by 2030, but would get a boost to keep running until 2040, with a gas turbine to be replaced in 2026.

The plan calls for procurement to begin “as soon as possible” for 20 megawatts of solar power generation, and 60 megawatts of offshore wind power.

Offshore wind power is a “major component of the preferred portfolio” and could be in service by 2028.

The IRP also projects that power customers will be generating 21MW of solar power by the end of the decade.

Additionally, improving energy efficiency would come with “a new way of operating Bermuda’s grid”. At present, Belco supplies 36,000 customers on the island, with almost 33,000 residential customers.

The latest IRP comes at a time of extra scrutiny for the power provider after Belco negotiated a raise in prices with the RA, citing costs from inflation and infrastructure.

Under the Electricity Act 2016, the authority is required to get an IRP from Belco at least once every five years. The first IRP was published in 2019.

The latest plan contains a wide variety of fuel proposals, including floating solar production, a “nascent renewable technology where solar panels are placed on the surface of the water”.

“Due to Bermuda’s land constraints, offshore renewable resources are needed to reach higher levels of renewable generation.

“Floating solar resources have previously been mostly in ponds and reservoirs but are more recently being developed for the ocean.

“Further studies are being conducted on the impact that salt water or wave action may have on the performance and lifetime of these resources.”

The plan also looks offshore for renewable electricity, with 60MW of wind-generated power.

The IRP also highlights wave power, noting: “Due to Bermuda’s limited acreage for new onshore resources and the potential to reach untapped renewable energy, wave power has been of great interest to Bermuda as it approaches commercial maturity.

“Wave power harnesses the motions of waves, converting mechanical energy into electrical energy.”

The IRP comes with proposals for the use of biomass, defined as “renewable material that can be processed from wood or wood waste, agricultural crops, biogenic materials in municipal solid waste, or animal manure”.

Battery energy storage systems are also detailed in the 178-page document, which was handed in to the RA last November and revised in May.

Both heavy and light fuel oil are used at present by Belco, but the plan puts forward a switch to the cleaner light fuel.

Liquefied natural gas, which has been proposed before and turned down by the Regulatory Authority, is also included, with a 2016 feasibility study referenced.

The earliest that engines in the East Power Station could be retrofitted to burn the fuel, known as LNG, would be 2028.

However, the regulator previously cited “significant investment required in fuel infrastructure” in its reasons for turning down LNG, which would require a gas terminal at the East End with pipelines and storage.

The “invitation to comment” document comes with detailed questions for feedback, and also calls for “alternative scenarios that should be considered in the IRP”.

Written comments should be submitted to the Regulatory Authority before 5pm on September 30.