Belco’s new multimillion dollar North Power Station has powered up.

The station went online at midnight on Tuesday after “many years of planning and construction”.

Dennis Pimentel, Belco’s president, said: “The commissioning of the North Power Station marks an important milestone for our company and Bermuda — one that has been more than ten years in the making.

“Our new plant will be much cleaner, quieter and more efficient than the old engines — and this will benefit everyone in Bermuda.”

Construction of the North Power Station, between St John’s Road and Cemetery Road in Pembroke, started in 2018 and is estimated to have cost $120 million.

The station has four 14 megawatt dual-fuel generators designed to pump out 56 megawatts of power.

The new station will allow Belco to decommission generators that have been in operation for between 40 and 50 years.

A Belco spokesman said the older engines were more expensive to operate and maintain and had become unreliable.

Mr Pimentel added that the new station will also help provide the “bridge” as Bermuda moves towards renewable energy as outlined in the Government’s integrated resource plan.

The plan proposed that 85 per cent of the island’s energy should be generated from renewable sources by 2035.

Mr Pimentel said Belco had invested in training for its staff as part of the new station project.

He added: “I would also like to thank all those involved in bringing this large and complex project to fruition on time and on budget.

“That includes the Government and Regulatory Authority, our team at iEPC who worked on the design, our project management team and all the staff at Belco, contractors BWSC, numerous local subcontractors and shipping agents who arranged for the delivery of the engines and equipment.

“We would also like to thank our neighbours and the community for their patience and understanding during the construction of the new plant.”

He added: “This project provided a much-needed boost to our economy and jobs for Bermudians to build a plant that will be fully operated by Belco staff.

“Our ultimate goal is to bring down electricity rates for our customers and move to a more renewable energy future and the North Power Station will assist in achieving that goal.”

Mr Pimentel said some work still needed to carried out at the site, including removal of construction equipment and landscaping.