The Virgin Group company will take over all operations of the country’s only utility-scale solar project and the power purchase agreement with the local utility, Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC).
The Bodden Town Solar Farm includes a total of 21,690 photovoltaic panels and has been operational since July 2017. The facility is sited on a former rock quarry, recovering this location to generate clean, renewable energy without impacting undisturbed areas on the island. All power generated by the Bodden Town Solar Farm will contribute to the grid’s peak load of about 110MW and provide power to more than 800 homes.
BMR Energy CEO Bruce Levy said: “We are pleased to establish operations in the Cayman Islands and contribute to its transition to renewable energy.
“Our team is looking forward to driving facility operations to boost efficiency to deliver as much clean energy as we can for the community and look forward to expanding our Cayman operations in the future.”
BMR is working closely with CUC to provide reliable renewable energy to end users supporting the Cayman Islands’ national target of supplying 70 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2037. As an island vulnerable to climate change, the Cayman Islands are also part of the Paris Agreement and have signed a mandate to make the transition to renewables.
CUC customer services & technology vice president Sacha Tibbetts said: “The Bodden Town Solar Farm, the first utility-scale partnership for CUC, has provided our customers with clean energy since 2017.
“We look forward to working together with BMR Energy on the continued operation of the Solar Farm. CUC’s aim is to have 25% of energy on the grid come from renewable energy sources by 2025 and to meet the objectives and targets of the National Energy Policy over the longer term.”
This announcement builds on momentum from a successful year for BMR Energy. Throughout last year, BMR Energy, a Virgin Group company, continued to work towards Richard Branson’s goal of accelerating renewable energy adoption and building a cleaner, more resilient energy future for the Caribbean and Latin America.
BMR dedicated much of the last year restoring existing solar projects that endured damage during the 2017 hurricane season and exploring new promising markets for renewable energy in the region. BMR currently has projects in the US Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Jamaica and now the Cayman Islands.
The company’s 4MW Spanish Town St. Croix solar facility, a hurricane-damaged solar project acquired in June last year, has experienced strong operations since BMR repaired the facility and brought it back online on November 8, last year.
The company’s 36MW Jamaica Wind Project also achieved record-breaking generation in terms of both availability and output. High winds and successful day-to-day operations allowed the wind farm to exceed BMR’s annual projections for last year by more than 10%.
BMR Energy is actively working on the development of additional projects throughout the Caribbean and Central America. The company expects to see increased activity during this year as more countries begin to implement their renewable energy programs.
Source: Company Press Release
