Bodden Town to get 5MW solar farm

| 02/11/2015 | 43 Comments

Cayman News Service(CNS): Cayman’s first commercial alternative energy facility is to be built in Bodden Town. CUC has awarded a contract for 5 megawatt (MW) plant to be built by Entropy Cayman Solar Limited on a 20-acre site. It will include over 21,000 poly-crystalline photovoltaic (solar) modules each with a DC-rated capacity of 305 watts and will be connected to CUC’s Bodden Town substation. The project will provide clean renewable solar energy for around 800 homes, reducing emissions and providing renewable energy at a competitive initial price of CI 14.28 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Cayman’s first ever solar farm is expected to be completed by next October. The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) approved the agreement between CUC and the Pittsburgh-based International Electric Power LLC, which has created the local company Entropy Cayman Solar Limited to begin the project. The firm was selected after an RFP and a long selection process to ensure the right partner, CUC said in a release.

“This has been a prolonged but necessary process to ensure that we secured the right partner who could meet our goal to bring large-scale renewable energy to Grand Cayman’s electricity consumers,” said President and CEO of CUC, Richard Hew. “This project will provide clean energy at a competitive and stable price to consumers and represents a large step in the ongoing development of a diversified and environmentally sustainable energy sector. As solar energy is intermittent, firm generation sources such as diesel powered generation are required to provide stable power to the grid.”

ERA Managing Director Charles Farrington said he hoped this would be the first of many utility scale renewable energy projects to replace fossil fuel generated electricity.

“Our consultants have evaluated the levelized cost of this energy to be approximately CI 16 cents per kWh over the 25 year life of the PPA.  Over that period we expect that this cost will lower consumers’ costs compared to diesel whilst eliminating the price volatility and greenhouse gas emissions of the fossil fuel displaced,” he said, adding that the ERA is now developing a new RFP for additional solar resources.

David March, the Managing Partner of Entropy Investment Management (Entropy), the company managing the project, said the facility was the first step in a new energy future for the Cayman Islands.

“We are excited to be a contributing partner in the country’s quest for sustainable and renewable energy independence,” he said. “Entropy looks forward to working with the ERA and CUC to develop additional energy cost saving projects.”

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Comments (43)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It has taken five years to get this far how many years will actually take to build and install another 5 – 10 years look at other countries in the Caribbean Aruba has 60% renewable energy all ready.
    As with all things Cayman all talk, expensive consultation papers and no action just look at the tip and half baked cruise berth, GT regeneration and education.

  2. Anonymous says:

    This has nothing to do with me so I don’t care. Can we get back to the salacious stuff?

  3. Anonymous says:

    It is kind of silly to just put the panels on the ground.
    Elevate the panels so they can swivel (to be cleaned) and plant tomatoes in the shade.
    Use some of the electricity to produce atmospherically generated water and suddenly your 1kw at 13c is a tomato at $1.00. Hello!

  4. Sparky says:

    Solar power causes cancer.

  5. Anonymous says:

    http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/eon-energy-partner-zone/2015/oct/27/uk-eight-most-energy-efficient-workplaces-in-pictures

    The solar panels over parking spaces would be good in all the car parks in Cayman: airport, supermarkets, malls, etc. We could park in the shade instead of fighting over the space under the trees!

  6. satirony says:

    This is an interesting use of 20 acres of Cayman’s limited supply of land. A point in favour of installing solar panels on existing buildings is they don’t consume any virgin land. Let’s start with the roofs of Al Thompson, Kirk Supermarket, Kirk Home Center and Hurley’s Supermarket, a few acres at least, with no 20-acre updrafts on sunny days.

  7. BTer says:

    Bring it on. All for it.

  8. Anonymous says:

    What a strange name for this company! Some synonyms for entropy – chaos, disorganization, randomness… ???

  9. Burn Notice says:

    I wonder who the local partners are?

    Maybe someone could shine some sunlight on that.

  10. People For a Solar Free B.T. says:

    We cannot and will not allow this to happen in our backyard. There will be signs and protest marches. We might even start a website! Fight on Bodden Town, not on our watch!

    • Anonymous says:

      Its only going to cost $500 million and CIG can well afford it. There will be plenty of retail opportunities right next door to the park, you know “charge your battery for a dollar”, “your own lightening bolt” in whichever colour you want, and for the Churches special “fry a gay” electric chairs in Cayman Jerk style. Its so exciting! With apologies to gays for gallows humour, but not to churches.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why? What’s so wrong with a solar farm? Did you say that when they put up electric pylons and telephone wires? Get in the 21 century. You have loads of sun here in the Cayman Islands, solar power is perfect for this island.

    • Bodden Towner says:

      Another idiot!!

    • Anonymous says:

      Its going next to your new dump

  11. Bluff Patrol says:

    The killer in Caymanians’ electricity bill is the fuel factor. Let’s get it out of the equation by utilizing alternative energy sources!!!

    This solar farm is certainly a step in the right direction and is long overdue. Now we need to treat this as a proof of concept and scale it significantly as quickly as possible.

    • Bluffing Game says:

      Re the fuel factor. One way or the other we have to pay for our government. We use a fee based revenue system. Would you prefer instead to pay a percentage of your income or a property tax?

      Of course we could reduce the size of the civil service and make it a lot more efficient and cost effective.

      But no one seems to want that.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Who owns Entropy Cayman Solar Limited…..let’s go on ahead and get the conflicts out in the open…..

    • Anonymous says:

      10;49
      That we will never know. Cayman secrecy and corruptions are protected by the Cayman Islands Government.
      They will register this company in any other overseas jurisdiction , bring the name of the company to Cayman, form and register the name of the company as a shareholder with another entity, most the time fronting. The name of the owners are never revealed, not even 10 ton of dynamite can get this information out of our registry.

  13. Anonymous says:

    This is long overdue but the real solution is the widespread installation of solar panels on office buildings, hotels, condos and private residences along with the introduction of net metering to feed surplus energy from them back into the grid.

    That was happening in the UK long before they started building solar farms so why not here?

    At best this is a token gesture by CUC.

    • Anonymous says:

      ‘At best this is a token gesture by CUC.’ And odds are it’s nothing more than a CUC subsidiary company anyway.

    • Anonymous says:

      There is NOTHING stopping any building/hotel/condo/residense from installing solar panels. This is simply CUC complying with their license.

      Net metering is a different issue. I have to query how you expect the “private” solar power producer to not contribute to the upkeep of the grid that they are using to market their product? There is a process for feeding power back in place.

      • Anonymous says:

        Net metering works in the USA, the UK and throughout Europe so why not here? The only part of the grid it uses is the existing connection to the property.
        Think of all the properties that are owned as holiday homes and sit vacant 8-9 months of the year – if you put panels on all their roofs you wouldn’t need a solar farm.

        Incidentally, there are restrictions on using not just solar panels but just about anything else to generate your own electricity – it’s all part of the jealously guarded CUC monopoly. If you don’t believe me – ask Dart.

        • Anonymous says:

          ‘The only part of the grid used is the existing connection to the grid’. This is not correct. Once connected to the grid you are using the entire grid. If the property owner is producing more than needed during the day then the grid is needed to absorb the excess energy and at night with no solar output there will have to be backup generation pushing electricity to the property, assuming no battery storage on the property. Net metering credits the property owner for all of the costs of the grid that is being used and place those the costs on the grid owner and other users. Of course one can disconnect from the grid and self generate which is an option but one should not expect to use the grid free of cost.

  14. Anonymous says:

    BT gets the fist solar power field, they should get the first new dump too. Such pioneers our Bodden Towners!!

    • Caymanian donkey says:

      I’m surprised the BT’rs aren’t complaining about this.
      We need to educate them on waste management facilities and not call it a dump.

      • Anonymous says:

        They will Donkey, just those people from the countryside are a little slower to respond than most…and I think they only recently installed the “internet” there..something about they did not need any more information.

      • Bodden Towner says:

        Idiot!

  15. Desmond Kinch says:

    Where a solar farm like this one being built in Bodden Town really makes sense is in Little Cayman. If a solar farm can be constructed in Little Cayman and sell electricity to Brac Power and Light for 14 cents per kWh, even with a hefty mark-up for distribution and storage by the monopoly provider there, it would bring down electricity prices significantly. The other benefits are probably even greater. It would rid LC of the noisy, polluting generator which requires the expensive importation of deisel (and maintenance). It could also put Little Cayman on the world map as an island in the Caribbean with 100% renewable elecricity generation, probably resulting in a huge amount of free media coverage for the island. As a low-lying state, and particularly one with high per capita income, we should be leading by example.

  16. Anonymous says:

    one small step for man…one giant leap for caymankind…..

  17. London says:

    In the US the Energy rate is averaged about US12.14 in California alone about
    US$ 9.80. where the wealthiespeople in the world live! yes California.

    Why is it that CUC ALWAYS Has to milk the people of the Cayman Islands? all in the name of employing Caymanans?! Mr Hew, its time to stop the madness, either you are helping the people or you are not; those Illuminati price gauging rates can not work in a society where 25% of grassroots people are unemployed.
    It is clear with governments constant approval that the elite society in Cayman and worldwide is very determind to create an Economic Zone that will be the thrust of Caymanians being ushered into extreme poverty. What next slave ships?

    • Anonymous says:

      The price was determined by competitive bidding, not set by CUC and the cost of the clean energy will be passed through without markup by CUC so your fears of price gouging are unfounded. The project should also will bring jobs for Caymanians.

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