SmartPower & SmartHomes

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Bahamas RESG Registration - May 11, 2015

Although the tentative date for the beginning of the GridTie Programme application process is scheduled to begin in September, registration for the programme and registration of existing alternative energy sources, is targeted to roll out on Monday, May 11th, 2015. A summary of the Renewable Energy Self Generation Program and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at the following BEC website link: RESG FAQ'shttp://www.bahamaselectricity.com/doingbusiness/resg_program.cfm

In a recent press release, Kenred Dorsett, Minister of the Environment and Housing announced that,"The RESG programme will permit applicants operating wind and/or solar systems to tie into the grid; thereby assisting in the reduction of their electricity costs and lessening the demand for electricity."

Minister Dorsett goes on to say that "All persons and businesses currently generating energy through alternative energy sources, including those who do not wish to connect to the grid, are required by law to register their systems. This exercise will assist the Government in creating an inventory of alternative energy generating systems throughout the country."

Statistics on the number of persons and business that successfully complete "registration of existing" alternative energy systems, and those that complete the "registration" and "application" for the GridTie Pilot RESG program will be of special interest. Stay tuned . . .

A copy of the RESG Registration Form can be viewed and downloaded here. Residential Energy Self Generation Registration Form in PDF Format.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Solar kWh Costs - News Archive

Having recently seen single module PV prices dropping to a low of $0.60/Watt, it's no surprise to also see associated solar electric kWh costs plummet.

Searching through online archives we find a related article posted February 12, 2014 on www.Energy.Gov, by Erin R. Pierce, "The U.S. solar industry is growing at a record-breaking pace, while becoming more affordable and accessible than ever before. The industry’s forward progress comes in part thanks to support from the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative.

Set up in 2011 to re-establish U.S. leadership in the solar marketplace, SunShot partners with industry, universities, local communities and the Department’s National Laboratories to aggressively drive down the cost of solar-powered electricity generation across America.

To achieve this goal, SunShot works to lower the price of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt hour (KWh) -- a cost target that will make solar-generated power to be fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of the decade."

Fast forward to 2015 and we read of a recent study by the Berlin-based Agora Energiewende, a leading German think tank. The lead author, and renewable energy specialist Daniel Fuerstenwerth says that one of the reasons for the study was the lack of recognition among policy makers and advisors about future cost falls in solar PV, and official forecasts which continued to downplay the potential role of the technology.

He goes on to say that "the cost reduction potential of large scale solar is still misunderstood, and predicts that solar PV will be the cheapest form of power within a decade, and cost less than $US0.02/kWh by 2050."

Originally published in RenewEconomy, we further read from the Angora report that “Our results indicate that solar power will become the cheapest source of electricity in many regions of the world, reaching costs of between Euro 1.6 and 3.7c/kWh in India and the Mena region (Middle East and North Africa) by 2050.

Cost competitiveness, we're told, with large scale conventional power plants will be reached in these regions already within the next decade, at a cost for solar power by 2025 ranging between 3.3 and 5.4 ct/kWh.

The article places emphasis on the fact that, "in UAE for instance, solar is already cost competitive, with a tender for 200MW of solar going at less than $US0.06/kWh, less than the prevailing cost of gas-fired generation at $US0.09/kwh."