Our Impact

You Spoke. We Listened.

North Power Station FAQs
Share Your Concerns

WE HEAR YOUR CONCERNS ON:

  1. Air Quality
  2. Water Quality
  3. Odours

Mitigation efforts considered:

  1. Roof painting
  2. Property cleaning
  3. Vehicle cleaning
  4. Tank cleaning

Share Your Concerns

We want to hear from you. We are acutely aware of the impact that our operations have on some of our neighbours. We are committed to working together to minimise and mitigate the affects our operations have on neighbouring properties.

We thank our neighbours and the community for their patience while we work to continuously improve our operations and reduce our impact. We will continue to listen, to learn and to work towards meaningful solutions.

 

Mitigation Efforts

We are committed to mitigating the impacts on our neighbours’ properties while working to resolve the challenges at the source and communicating with them regularly.

If you have any environment or safety concerns in regards to our operations and equipment, we encourage you to reach out using the form below.

Once we have received your concern, one of our OHSE team members will contact you. Depending on the type of concern, our team will work with you to arrange a property visit, where we will conduct an impact assessment. After this impact assessment has been completed, mitigation remedies will be provided as appropriate.

We  appreciate your patience as we work to optimise our operations and further minimise our impact.

We Acted

Learn More
About the NPS

For convenience, please feel free to download our digital brochure on the North Power Station HERE.

Water Quality

The Department of Environment & Natural Resources engages the local environmental organisation, BIOS, to carry out comprehensive water testing in Pembroke locations close to BELCO.

Pollutants expected to be associated with soot from BELCO and other combustion processes are not present in the water samples above primary drinking water standards, including those from the USA, the UK and the World Health Organisation.

Water Quality Test Results

Stack Soot Emissions

Operational investigations commenced in June of 2020, after realising the North Power Station exhaust stack was emitting significant soot and particulate matter into the atmosphere that were large enough to fall onto the neighbouring community. Our investigations indicated we were suffering from improper combustion on startups of the engines. The unburnt fuel was forming black flakes that were being emitted. Various hypotheses were discussed between BELCO, the builder of the NPS and the engine manufacturer.

All parties have been working together on remedial actions in a phased approach as seen below, which are aimed to address the low compression and combustion pressures associated with the engines, while providing reliable power to the island. 

Engine Remediation Action Plans:

Phase1

Q4 2020 – Q2 2021

Shim Installation
To reduce soot fallout, shims were installed on all 4 North Power Station engines.

This phase resulted in great improvements as we stopped seeing the flakes of soot. However, we were still seeing smaller particulate matters not getting burnt through the process.

 

Phase2

Q1 2021 – Q1 2022

Piston Crown Installation
To further reduce soot fallout, the piston crowns were changed on all 4 North Power Station engines. This phase resulted in a slight but further improvement to the size and frequency of the fallouts observed over the 3 months following project completion.

 

Phase3

Q1 – Q2 2023

Engine Startup Procedures & Governor Setting Changes
Work was completed on the installation of a new programme to reduce the amount of fuel injected during start-up, which resulted in the reduction of soot buildup in the exhaust over time. The expectation is that the reduction in soot buildup will equate to a reduction in fallout incidents.

Phase4

Q2 – Q4 2023

Install Dryer Skid
To further improve the combustion process, work to install a dryer skid was completed, which removed moisture from the combustion process and further reduced soot fallout from the North Power Station exhaust stack.

 

Phase5

Q1 2024 – Present

Engine Startup Procedures
Work continues on evaluating and implementing additional changes to the startup process to reduce the soot buildup that leads to fallout incidents.

Current Operational Adjustments:

Starting engines on Light Fuel Oil (LFO)
When we start a North Power Station engine and return it to service we use
a light fuel oil to help prevent soot fallout. This has resulted in a reduction in
particulate matter during start-up and a reduction in impacts experienced
by area residents.

Odours on Cemetery and St. John’s Road

To address odours, we worked on the below remedial actions in a phased approach. 

Odour Remediation Action Plans:

Phase1

Q2 – Q4 2021

Carbon Filter Installation
To address odours, activated carbon filters were installed on the vents of our fuel and sludge tanks.

This phase resulted in a significant reduction in odour complaints.

Phase2

Q2 – Q4 2023

Temperature Control System
Our team installed a more responsive temperature control system on our sludge tank which prevents excessive temperatures and associated odour generation.

 

Phase3

Q2 – Q4 2023

Seperator Vent Adjustments
In response to odour mitigation challenges on tank vents for our fuel separators, alternative routing and reconfiguration of the pipework began.

Phase4

Q2 – Q4 2023

Oil and Water Process Changes
Our team made operational adjustments to minimise activities that can create odours associated with processing oil and water in our sludge tank. New charcoal filters were installed and relocated.

The issue of odour has now been resolved with the exception of temporary ocurrences.

Stack Exhaust Emissions

This year, BELCO has continually demonstrated compliance to the Clean Air Act and Regulations, recorded at the two existing ambient air quality measuring sites in Pembroke. Testing the emissions from the exhaust stacks revealed that nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter emissions are below our contractual obligations.

Air Quality Test Results

Stack
Exhaust
Emissions:

Some of our neighbours, upon occassion, experience odours due
to the downdrafting affect. This experience should be improved
even further as the engine remediation plan above continues
to progress. However, we continue to monitor the wind patterns
and make adjustments to our operations as necessary to reduce
these occassional experiences.

Should our neighbours experience any odours, we encourage
them to notify us as soon as possible by filling out the form
below or emailing .

The North Power Station (NPS)

The North Power Station was commissioned in April 2020 as a direct response to the challenge of replacing BELCO’s ageing engines. Much of our infrastructure was outdated, including some engines that were 40 years old. In order to replace these engines, we needed to build a new power station.

The North Power Station has new, modern engines that are cleaner and much more efficient, which allowed BELCO to decommission eight costly and unreliable diesel engines in 2020. The North Power Station addition has also allowed BELCO to remove one tall metal exhaust stack and five smaller stacks as a part of the Asset Retirement Project (ARP). All in all, this has resulted in reduced emissions coming from our power plant.

The immediate benefits are already apparent. With elevated cooling fans, turbochargers and exhaust ductwork, noise and vibrations have been substantially reduced. The North Power Station was built to meet both local and international standards with respect to spill containments for fuels, lubricants and transformer insulating oils.

Occupational
Health, Safety and
Environment (OHSE)

Our OHSE team constantly monitors the effects of our operations, both in the adjacent neighbourhood and across Bermuda. OHSE works closely with The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ensure that BELCO emissions are within required limits.

BELCO meets the highest international standard for its environmental management system, maintaining the ISO 14001 certification. Additionally, BELCO complies with the Clean Air Act 1991 and the Regulations 1993. Each quarter, BELCO reports data from all quality monitoring programmes to the Environmental Authority.

Environment and safety are top priorities at BELCO, which is why our OHSE team takes every measure to address damages quickly and safely. OHSE conducts reviews and works to prevent future incidents. We are confident that operations and emissions will be greatly improved for the operating life of the plant.

Safety & Environment

Share Your Concerns With Us…

If you are our neighbour and have an environment or safety concern pertaining to our operations, please share them with us on the form below. We are committed to working with you to improve our operations and reduce any impacts you may be experiencing.

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    Our commitment
    to you is clear

    For over a century, BELCO has been a critical part of Bermuda’s infrastructure. Due to our operational performance, high reliability, environmental stewardship and level of customer experience, BELCO is rated as one of the best island utilities in the world.

    Our dedicated team works around the clock, every day of the year, to ensure that Bermuda has a reliable energy source. We live and work in the area around the plant. Our team strives for excellence and service to our community.

    We’re committed to a clean and safe environment for all, not least our neighbours.

     

    We are committed to Bermuda.