Major solar and wind power projects could soon come to fruition as the Island's major electricity supplier examines alternative power sources to help Bermuda's growing energy needs, a meeting heard last night.Belco President Andrew Parsons said: “Hopefully we will reduce our use of fossil fuel. We do realise it is a resource that is becoming more scarce.“We do recognise that small scale renewables are something that needs to be in the mix, but it can be intermittent, so at any time we need to have a base plant to make sure we have the capacity to supply the demand.”In a presentation to an audience of around 50 people at the Bermuda College, the company discussed its plans for the future leading up to 2020, when it believes 20 percent of the Island's electricity will come from renewable sources.Mechanical Engineer Athanasious Smith said the company hoped to install new energy generation equipment and retire some aging facilities by 2013.According to renderings shown, a completely new north station would be built between St John's Road and Cemetery Road and would include a smokestack.Mr Smith said some of Belco's oldest generators are already working past their normal service life, and that in order to have the new generators in place by 2013, Belco needs to get planning permission by the end of the summer.As time progresses, he said Belco would be able to continue to develop within the existing footprint to replace generators as their life expectancy nears an end.Currently, the central plant produces 167MW to supply the entire Island, and while the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy plant produces an additional 3MW, it also requires as much as 1.5MW to maintain its operation.Regarding renewable energy, Mr Smith said Belco believed the Island could see an 80-acre solar panel facility located on a finger of airport land in St David's before the end of 2015, and an offshore windfarm built to the north of the Island by 2018.“If there was to be a development of this nature, we believe this would be the best place for it,” he said.