Plans include expanded water and sewage functions
The Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility, now three decades old, is in need of significant investment to sustain its operations.
The urgency became clear in December 2021 when boiler failures and issues with the baling contingency system forced a temporary shutdown of the plant. Minister Burch acknowledged the lack of TLC over the years.
“It has not been subjected to the type of maintenance it should have had over those thirty years. Three governments can take the blame for that—the UBP, the PLP, and the OBA. That said, you move on and figure out where you’re going next,” he stated.
In 2022, the Government authorized a $22 million stabilization program to replace critical systems and preserve the facility until major maintenance could begin. This was followed by a commissioned Business Case Study.
“We hired KPMG to do a business case for us on how we would go about refurbishing the plant or building a new one and what the costs of that were,” Minister Burch said. “I can tell you Cabinet finally approved the plan going forward.”
While the details of the study are yet to be made public, Minister Burch revealed that future plans for Tynes Bay involve expanding its responsibilities.
“The plan going forward is to expand the responsibility of Tynes Bay to not just dealing with waste but also to deal with water and sewage. And so you have a combined entity that will deal with both of those issues and generate revenue for the country,” he explained.
While the plans for Tynes Bay evolve, Minister Burch says progress is on track to ensure the facility’s critical role in managing Bermuda’s waste. However, it comes with a heavy price tag.
“We’re talking about a quarter of a billion dollars, probably in funding or more to get the plant completely refurbished so that it will last another 30 years,” said Minister Burch.
