NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) officially introduced its electric vehicle (EV) fleet pilot project at a media briefing, January 25, 2023.

Robert Deal, General Manager, said the initiative is an effort to incorporate the government’s mandate of 30 percent renewable energy by the year 2030.

“The Corporation has been charged by government, with the support of the Minister [the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Works and Utilities] and the board to move into a direction that is environmentally friendly, improve our efficiency and also reduce our usage of fossil fuels.

“The government has set a target to ensure that from a country perspective, 30 percent of all energy is produced using renewable energy by 2030. The Corporation believes that we have to move in that direction using a series of initiatives to both reduce the amount of energy that we consume and secondly ensure that the energy we do consume is, where possible, produced via renewable energy.”

Two of the three vehicles -- a 2022 BYD T3 cargo van and a 2022 BYD iDolphin -- that presently comprise the pilot project were on display at the briefing.

“The cost is about $100,000 for the initial purchase. We also acquired three charging stations -- here, nearer to our head office and another station at our JFK location.”

The General Manager said WSC plans to expand the fleet in due course and is interested in determining how the vehicles operate from a charging perspective, their usability and the response of staff to them.

“We are in active discussions with some of the local fleet suppliers particularly looking for small trucks that we can utilize both here in New Providence and in the Family Islands. We want to not only reduce the energy usage but reduce our repair and maintenance cost which is high particularly in some of our islands where we have to travel on a quarterly basis to service and maintain vehicles.”

Cyprian Gibson, Deputy General Manager, expressed delight in being a part of the initiative and rising to the challenge to “go green” particularly with WSC having  one of the largest vehicle fleets in the nation.


General Manager Robert Deal speaks at the project launch.

Officials of the Water and Sewerage Corporation are pictured before one of the EV vehicles which is a part of a pilot project to reach the government’s requirement of 30 percent renewable energy by the year 2030. Shown from left, Eduardo Nottage, Garage Manager; Patrice Munroe, CFO; Robert Deal, General Manager and Cyprian Gibson, Deputy General Manager.

(BIS Photos/Mark Ford)