Flexible, off-grid power generation with LNG is a beautiful thing for a resort community in The Bahamas

LNG CASE STUDY

Life's a beach
with LNG

Imagine you’re at a resort on a remote island in The Bahamas. On one side, the Atlantic Ocean, the other, the Sea of Abaco – clear turquoise water as far as the eye can see. Your day’s agenda involves playing golf, going to the beach club, hanging out by the water, enjoying your choice of three gourmet restaurants, and indulging yourself at the world-class spa.

Sounds like paradise, right?

For one 500+ acre property in The Bahamas, those vivid blue waters were turning into a vicious case of the blues as immense energy challenges darkened the landscape.

From the start, the resort had planned to connect to the country’s utility grid via a subsea cable. In the meantime, they were producing their own power with onsite generators running on diesel fuel, using more than 20,000 megawatt-hours of power each year.  As it became evident that the property would be unable to connect to the utility grid, and with diesel costs rising, in 2017 they began looking for alternative energy options to meet increasing demand and an objective to operate using clean, affordable energy.

The Bahamas

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) offers a sea change
in power delivery

As a resort community, they didn’t have the luxury of shutting down just to switch power sources. The new solution had to fit within the development’s high-end aesthetics and minimize disruption to the community before, during, and after installation. Safety was key. Additionally, with a pristine ocean-front location, securing required permitting meant minimizing environmental impact; the resort also sought to ensure the ability to integrate with renewable energy sources.

The resort considered diesel and propane, but instead chose to partner with New Fortress Energy (NFE) for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) solution. NFE’s fast-track, turnkey, safe solution, allowed the resort to continue exploring the possibility of eventually connecting to the grid or integrating with renewables.

NFE engaged with the resort’s senior staff and power plant operator to create a custom, full-service, fully financed energy solution that met all of their needs:

  • Modular and adaptable: To keep investment costs low, NFE provided a modular solution consisting of a vaporizer and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage containers that provided enough storage to weather any storms.
  • Community-friendly: This compact solution avoided creating an eyesore and minimized disruption to the community, with ample onsite storage to avoid constant truck traffic within the development.
  • End-to-end management: NFE worked with the resort to identify land near the generators, then managed all permitting and construction, and trained the resort’s staff on the new equipment to ensure a seamless transition.
Bakers Bay

Achieving high-water
marks with liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Just eight months after contract signing, the resort was up and running with a lower-cost, environmentally friendly energy source.(1) And just like the abundant sunshine in The Bahamas, this liquefied natural gas (LNG) source shines brightly with ongoing benefits including saving the resort $1 million a year in fuel costs; reducing carbon emissions by 27 percent, the equivalent of planting almost 50,000 trees per year; and reducing noise and improving air quality.(2)

NFE continues to supply The Bahamas property with liquefied natural gas (LNG) for onsite power generation and is working with the staff to explore additional opportunities to support the resort’s growing energy needs. For us, the ability to transform the resort’s power supply with cleaner, affordable LNG is literally just another day in paradise.