NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) is “ramping up” efforts to rebuild and improve its transmission network on Abaco, the company said yesterday.
In a statement giving an update on progress in restoring electricity to the island that was knocked out during Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, BPL said continues “working to restore supply to a number of cays, repairing or preparing to replace subsea cables damaged by the storm”.
According to the statement, BPL teams are continuing work to connect lines from the cays to the mainland to eliminate the need for temporary generation, as well as installing nearly 200 streetlights on the mainland and cays.
The utility company said work to rebuild overhead infrastructure connecting Treasure Cay and Coopers Town has been completed, which will allow for the reconnection of any individual residential, agricultural or commercial customer along Green Turtle Cay, Treasure Cay, Leisure Lee and Turtle Rocks to be reconnected.
Trenching in the area of Eastern Shores was reported to be 90 percent complete, and once it is finished BPL “will replace the underground cabling servicing this community and Sugar Loaf Cay”.
BPL expected the Red Bay to be re-energized by yesterday, ahead of the original end-of-January schedule; and it noted that Sandy Cay, Scotland Cay and most of Elbow Cay were restored.
By the end of this week, the remainder of Elbow Cay is expected to be restored and work to “prepare for the connection of customers” on Garden Cay is expected to begin.
By the end of this month, the entirety of Guana Cay is expected to be re-energized, along with the northern part of Man-O-War Cay “save for the last two customers where the road has been washed out”; and the last replacement transformer on Matt Lowes Cay is expected to be installed.
Work on Dickies Cay was completed, except for one transformer “that cannot be restored as the debris from the house it serviced is preventing access”, while work on Tilloo Cay is expected to begin on February 1.
Within the next three weeks, work to connect the system from Marsh Harbour to Coo-
pers Town is expected to continue, with the aim of allowing the supply from Wilson City to feed the entire island.
“BPL is also working with the government of The Bahamas and its consultants to increase solar penetration with installations slated for the various hospitals and clinics on the island,” the statement read.
