North Power Station Officially Commissioned

At midnight on Tuesday, March 31st, a new era of power generation began in Bermuda, as after many years of planning and construction, the new North Power Station officially came online at midnight yesterday to generate Bermuda’s base load electricity requirement.

Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited [BELCO] President Dennis Pimentel said: “The commissioning of the North Power Station marks an important milestone for our company and Bermuda – one that has been more than 10 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 began in October 2018 once approval was granted by the Regulatory Authority and is comprised of four 14 Mega Watt dual-fuel engines that will provide 56 Mega Watts of power. The new engines utilise the latest technology and will be more automated, efficient and quieter than the engines they replace.

“The new plant will allow BELCO to retire several old engines that have been running for between 40 and 50 years. These old engines are costly to operate and maintain, have become unreliable, and are at risk of failure.

Mr. Pimentel said: “The North Power Station will provide the bridge necessary to move Bermuda toward the renewable energy future outlined in the Integrated Resource Plan that envisages 85% of our electricity being generated by renewables by 2035. We have also invested in our staff who have been trained to operate the new plant.

“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, 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. Work also continues to clear the site of construction equipment and materials as well as landscaping with native and endemic plants. 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.”

“To learn more about the North Power Station visit www.yourenergyfuture.bm”

#BELCO #BermudaBusiness #Electricity

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