Energy minister Phillip Paulwell has announced that his ministry will be partnering with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) to undertake a $109 million feasibility project at five potential hydropower sites.
The work is being carried out as part of the Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project, which is being funded through a 2011 loan agreement between the Government and the World Bank.
Under the agreement the World Bank has provided US$15 million to finance initiatives to increase Jamaica‘s energy efficiency and improve energy security.
Of this amount, $2.5 million has been allocated to the implementation of the hydro project.
The sites selected to participate in the project are the Rio Cobre River in St. Catherine, Morgan and Negro rivers in St. Thomas, Martha Brae River in Trelawny and Spanish River in Portland.
Paulwell has described the project as significant to his Ministry’s larger plan to develop Jamaica’s renewable energy industry.
The project will be carried out by SP Studio Pietrangeli, an Italian consulting engineering services firm.
Work is scheduled to continue until August 2014.
The Government has committed to having renewable sources supplying at least 20 per cent of Jamaica’s energy supply by 2030.
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