TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Bahamas Blog International
Bahamas Blog International
Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) Could Save Billions Of Dollars By Switching From Diesel To Natural Gas To Drive Its Power-generation Turbines - Says AES Spokesman Aaron Sampson
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

AES Proposes BEC Switch To Natural Gas:
By Quincy Parker -
Nassau, Bahamas:



AES Corporation – which wants to build an LNG plant in The Bahamas – could potentially help the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) both save millions in fuel costs and become more environmentally friendly, the company spokesman contends.

AES has estimated – based on New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) forecasts – that BEC would save up to $210 million a year depending on the volume of natural gas consumed.

And with current NYMEX-based forecasts, AES said that BEC would save $3 billion to $4 billion over the first 15 years.

Natural gas costs about half of what diesel and fossil fuels cost on the open market, according to an AES spokesperson.

With the more conservative US Energy Information Administration forecasts, those savings amount to up to $117 million a year, and up to $2 billion over the first 15 years.

Last month, Minister of State for Utilities Phenton Neymour announced that BEC had requested proposals from the private sector for provision of electrical energy through renewable energy sources, and that companies proposing to provide those services had until July 21 to submit their complete proposals.

Mr. Neymour explained the renewable energy sources BEC is exploring.

"Renewable resources that have the potential to be exploited include wind, solar, biofuels, ocean thermal energy conversion – called OTEC – ocean current, wave energy and waste energy," he said.

"In this regard, BEC has been mandated to undertake further research and development aimed at integrating the afore-sighted renewable energy options in addition to other alternatives that may lend themselves to being appropriate to The Bahamas’ energy and environmental conditions into the energy mix."

AES spokesman Aaron Sampson on Wednesday proposed that switching BEC from diesel to natural gas to drive its power-generation turbines would help substantially reduce the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere from electricity production.

AES Corporation has proposed to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Ocean Cay – a manmade cay off Bimini.

It’s a proposal that was approved in principle under the Ingraham Administration during its second term in office between 1997 and 2002, but the project met with stiff opposition from both the residents on Ocean Cay and environmental lobby ‘reEarth,’ led by Sam Duncombe.

In the last few weeks, the National Energy Policy Committee submitted a draft report to the government on its progress on the development of a national energy policy for The Bahamas. Part of the thrust in energy policy, for consecutive administrations, has been to make use of renewable energy sources.

Mr. Sampson conceded that natural gas is not a renewable fuel, and applauded BEC’s search for renewable energy sources, but said there was no conflict between that and creating the opportunity for BEC to use natural gas.

"Unlike the rest of its fossil fuel brothers, it’s got the lowest carbon footprint. So just switching the BEC gas turbines from diesel to natural gas will reduce their carbon signature by 27 percent, in addition to all the other benefits, the economic benefits, the benefits of increased reliability, reduced maintenance costs and so forth," he said.

"Natural gas is being utilized far more extensively throughout the world as the primary fuel for power generation because of these facts: that in comparison to coal, a modern gas-run facility has about half the carbon footprint that a modern coal facility has."

"So it is still a fossil fuel," he continued, "but I think the right terminology in the world today is it’s got to be the bridge fuel to solving the carbon issue in the world."

Mr. Sampson contended that every proposal in the world aimed at attacking global warming includes increased use of natural gas in lieu of other fossil fuels.

Local ecologist, engineer and attorney Romauld Ferreira added that there would have to be an incremental approach to the use of renewables – the switch from "Bunker C" or diesel to wind turbines or tidal power could not be made in one fell swoop.

And beginning with a cleaner product like natural gas, he said, has benefits all through the line.

"If you were to get lower sulfur fuels like low-sulfur diesel or low-sulfur Bunker C, to remove that sulfur from that product is very, very expensive, and so all of the sulfur in the sulfur dioxide is coming from the fuel. So just that process alone, if you were just targeting sulfur dioxide – which is an acid gas and which is not very planet friendly – natural gas has minimal amounts of sulfur in it," Mr. Ferreira said.

"So just if you look on it from that front, the cost savings from a cleaner fuel without having to refine it as much – because remember it’s a plethora of chemical compounds contained in these fuels that we burn.

"So if you’re starting out with a naturally more pure substance then at the end of the day you get less pollutants and less byproducts."

Sulfur dioxide is the gas said to produce a "rotten egg" odour that motorists passing BEC’s Clifton Pier facility complain about, and according to Mr. Ferreira can cause a number of health and environmental hazards.

"Its particulates are irritating to the respiratory system and the gas combines with water to form ‘acid rain’ that is widely known for its damaging effects on vegetation and buildings," AES said.

Mr. Sampson added that AES had also committed to build the pipeline that would supply BEC with natural gas from the Ocean Cay facility itself.

July 4, 2008

July 5, 2008 | 4:33 PM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Dennis Dames's Profile

Dennis Dames's Friends


Latest Posts
Bahamas Police Chief...
Geomagnetic field:...
The Proposed Economic...
Police Intelligence In...
A NUCLEAR STRIKE

Monthly Archive
December 1969
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
bahamas business&entrepreneurship choice decision enfusion governmentsector ict4d individualeconomy investment network networkdevelopment networknews newmedia news participation participationworks personaldevelopment personalproductivity podcast resources socialentrepreneurship socialreporting spelling test toolsforthejob video vodcast website websitehelp

Friends
Bahamas National Youth Council
bahamaswriter
Roderick R. Mckenzie

Links
A+ Links Int'l
AltaBlog Directory
Bahama Journal
Bahamas Dames
Bahamas Hotels
Bahamas Search
Bahamian WebRing
Best Blog Directory
Blog Directory
Blogadr
Blogdup
BlogExplosion
Blogit
Blogoozle Directory
Blogs Directory
Cheap Int'l Calling Cards
Clickbank Marketplace
Crooks Blog
Dating Network
Free Paid Web Directory
International Classifieds
LS Blogs
Politics Blogs
The Nassau Guardian
Top 100 Women Websites
Top Poetry Sites on the...
Top Web Blogs
Vote For Me


435429 views
Important Disclaimer