Krista Barnes, Director, Communications and Sustainability, explains BELCO’s long-term plans as it demolishes and dismantles a landmark building and power generating engines
F
or the past 117 years, Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited (BELCO) has been proudly powering the homes and businesses of Bermuda. During that time, much has changed; consumption of electricity has grown exponentially, and our system has been continually improved and adapted to meet the needs of our customers, always working to make the system safer, more economical, and more reliable. We have also learned over the decades about the environmental impact of our power generation operations, and we have worked steadily to remediate historical damage while seeking new, more sustainable methods of generating electricity. In April 2020, our North Power Station (NPS), which is comprised of four generating assets, was commissioned to replace inefficient and outdated engines with modern, efficient engines. We believe this will be Bermuda’s last fossil-fuelpowered plant. Alternative power generation technology is improving, and we believe now, more than ever, there is an opportunity to transition to economical, large-scale, renewable power for Bermuda. Going forward, our focus is on achieving Net Zero by 2050 using battery energy storage systems; offsetting emissions; increasing internal and operational efficiencies; the introduction of more renewable energy sources to our energy mix; and upgrading our transmission and distribution infrastructure to accommodate the intermittent nature of most renewable technology. Since inception, BELCO has installed 16 power generating assets along with 8 smokestacks to meet the island’s energy demands. As of today, we have decommissioned 50% of our generators and are looking to remove 63% of our smokestacks. 10
Taking a wrecking ball to fossil fuels BUILDINGBERMUDA2023
