Bermuda General Agency to buy two 20MW wave energy parks

Bermuda General Agency has signed an agreement with Swedish firm Seabased to buy two 20MW wave energy parks in the Caribbean.

The Swedish firm designs and installs offshore parks that transforms ocean waves to power that can be linked to the grid.

Feasibility studies of these parks will commence on several islands this year and the first phase is expected to be operational by next year.

Phase one of the first 20MW park will be a 5MW pilot in the Bahamas.

Bermuda General Agency CEO and chairman Wendall Brown said: “We have long wrestled with limited energy supply and very high prices throughout the Caribbean.

“We have relied primarily on fossil fuels which damage our environment and threaten our childrens’ future.

“Recognising the vast energy resource represented in the waves that roll onto our beaches every day, I have researched every opportunity to harness this energy. Seabased’s Ocean Wave Energy Solution is not only the most efficient in the market, but it is also the most sustainable and economical.”

Permitting process for wave energy parks have already commenced in several Caribbean jurisdictions.

Seabased CEO Øivind Magnussen said: “We believe that Seabased’s technology, which has been developed over two decades, with 100+ unique patents, is a perfect option for islands like those in the Caribbean with desirable wave climates and a high need for energy.

“Yet it takes people with vision to help really bring wave energy into its proper place among renewables – BGA and its supporter, the Bank of Butterfield & Son, have that vision.”

Currently, Seabased is involved in the development of a 100MW wave park in Ghana and has signed contracts to build wave parks in Canary Islands, Spain, and Sri Lanka.