A big opportunity for small vessels in The Bahamas

By Danielle Carey, Sepp Haukebo and Eduardo Boné-Morón

Renowned for its turquoise waters and unique marine ecosystems, The Bahamas is a natural wonder of the world. Yet, with all its beauty, the country faces critical challenges, including rising energy costs, environmental degradation and the growing impacts and threat of climate change. These issues jeopardize the region’s biodiversity, and the livelihoods and culture deeply tied to its marine environment. Amid these challenges, communities in The Bahamas are looking towards a groundbreaking opportunity: the electrification of small vessels, such as fishing and guiding boats, and small ferries.

Recreational and commercial fishing are estimated to support over 26,000 jobs and provide $600 million/year to the Bahamian economy. Transitioning small-scale vessels to electric holds transformative potential to reduce the nation’s environmental footprint, bolster its energy independence and stimulate economic growth, while serving as a model for sustainable innovation among island nations worldwide.

Environmental Defense Fund is working with local communities, the University of The Bahamas, Bahamas Sportfishing Conservation Association and Photon Marine on an initiative to electrify small vessels in The Bahamas. This project has the potential to advance energy security, environmental protection and economic growth for the country and serve as a model for other areas of the Caribbean facing similar challenges.

Fossil fuel dependency: A costly legacy

For decades, reliance on imported fossil fuels has made The Bahamas vulnerable to fluctuating global oil prices. Small-scale commercial fishers and guides — key players in the Bahamian economy — often see up to half their operating budgets consumed by fuel costs. On the country’s more remote and marginalized southern Family Islands, communities pay greater fees for shipments from the capital, are cut off from important sources of capital and re-supplies after storms and are often the last to benefit from national efforts to modernize businesses and technologies.

Beyond the financial burden, the environmental impact of fossil fuel dependency is severe. Combustion engines release harmful pollutants into air and water, jeopardizing critical ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, and the vitally important and extensive mangrove forests. These habitats provide an essential barrier between coastal communities and the dangerous and costly effects of storm surge and erosion, all while supporting fisheries and tourism.

Electrification: a game-changer for coastal communities

Electrifying small vessels offers an innovative, sustainable solution with far-reaching benefits:

• Economic relief: Reduced fuel and maintenance costs improve profitability for fishers and operators.
• Environmental protection: Electric motors eliminate emissions and fuel spills, preserving marine biodiversity. This new technology can advance The Bahamas’ to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and achieve 30% renewable energy integration by 2030.
• Energy security: Renewable energy-powered charging stations reduce dependence on imported fuels. Bi-directional charging and vessel-to-grid capabilities offer energy resilience, particularly during grid power outages.
• Job creation: Infrastructure development, boatbuilding and retrofitting initiatives generate local employment opportunities.
• Accessibility: Leasing and financing models lower upfront costs, making technology adoption, piloting and scaling feasible for more users. Reducing financial barriers also grows the pipeline of the next generation of fishers and guides as food providers and conservation champions.

Community-driven innovation

A cornerstone of this initiative is active collaboration and co-design with local communities. By incorporating their input from its inception, fishers and other vessel operators can actively shape their sustainable and economic future while becoming familiar with new, environmentally beneficial new technologies. In October 2024, EDF, the University of The Bahamas, Bahamas Sportfishing Conservation Association and Photon Marine co-led community meetings on Crooked Island and Acklins, bringing together fishers, guides, and ferry operators. These sessions highlighted a genuine enthusiasm for battery-powered boats, though they also showed some understandable hesitations towards the technology. After all, this shift can feel as futuristic as talking about flying cars. But the truth is, this technology is not just a distant dream: it’s here, evolving quickly, and offering a real chance to revolutionize coastal transport in The Bahamas and the wider region.

Community consultations have illuminated key insights, such as preferred vessel types, energy requirements and the importance of addressing cost and infrastructure challenges. These early conversations have been invaluable in identifying how the electrification of small vessels in The Bahamas can be strategically designed and implemented to benefit the livelihoods of communities across the island nation and promote energy resilience beyond marine opportunities.

Informed by these meetings, the next phase of this work will be to gather further data on current vessel use, to inform the design of the optimal battery, motor and charger combination that satisfies the vessel operators’ requirements. Additionally, we will address concerns about reliability, performance in rough conditions and charging infrastructure to ensure practical, effective solutions.

Broader implications for the Caribbean

The infrastructure to support EV mobility on the water unlocks EV mobility on land as well, from community centers, homes and businesses to buses and cars, which means that all coastal communities can benefit from the infrastructure that electric vessels unlock, even for those community members that are not boat operators. The Bahamas’ electrification journey will be a blueprint for regional transformation. By demonstrating the feasibility of clean technologies and renewable energy, this pilot to electrify small vessels sets the stage for other island nations to adopt similar strategies.

The modular, scalable approach can be tailored to diverse contexts, helping to overcome barriers to sustainability and fostering resilience throughout the Caribbean.

A Vision for the Future

The quiet hum of electric motors cutting through Bahamian waters represents more than technological progress: it symbolizes hope for a sustainable, resilient future. By embracing innovation and prioritizing renewable energy, The Bahamas and other island nations can work to safeguard their natural heritage while strengthening their economy and cultural identity.

Through collaboration, community empowerment and scalable solutions, it is possible to chart a course toward decarbonizing sectors, like fishing and transport, that harmonize with nature — proving that prosperity and sustainability can go hand in hand.

Together, The Bahamas can not only navigate its own challenges but also inspire a global movement toward a cleaner, greener future.

Keep an eye out for our feasibility report for this project, coming early next year.