A Request for Proposal has been issued for the Solar Photovoltaic Project on the “Finger” at the LF Wade International Airport, Minister of Economic Development Grant Gibbons announced in Parliament this morning.

The project is a joint effort between the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Economic Development with help from consulting firm Castalia Strategic Advisors.

With the RFP issued on December 2, Dr Gibbons described the project as “well under way” and anticipated that the successful candidate would be selected by early April.

Project oversight is being provided by a steering committee, made up of the permanent secretaries of the both ministries as well as the Ministry of Tourism, Transport and Municipalities and the financial secretary.

Prior to the RFP, a Request for Qualifications was issued to ensure standards including a “demonstrated financial capacity to build and operate a solar PV facility of this scale, and an established track record of operating efficiency and reliability.”

There were 29 submissions of which 19 met the criteria with potential bidders hailing from Bermuda, Canada, Spain, the United States, Germany, Britain and Australia.

“One of the objectives of this project is to provide pricing stability for a portion of Bermuda’s electricity supply by ensuring that the price remains fixed over time,” Dr Gibbons said.

“The cost of electricity generated by solar power is not subject to price fluctuations; therefore this cost can be contractually fixed over the 20-year anticipated life of the facility. Other objectives of this project include the diversification of the energy supply and the reduction in Bermuda’s carbon emissions, which could avoid as much as four thousand metric tons of carbon emissions per year of operation.”

The Government will fund site preparation which will be recovered from the rental income for the estimated 15 acres that will be leased to the developer.

• For Dr Gibbons’s statement in full, click on the PDF under “Related Media”