Peter Graham, chief executive officer of Gas Products Limited in Jamaica. File
Avia Collinder,
Energy minister Phillip Paulwell
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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The Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) has pushed back the date for providing a recommendation to the government on the supply of 360 megawatts of power to the national grid.
The OUR says it decided to move the deadline from March 31 to April 15 after it received more proposals than expected.
According to the OUR, it has received proposals from five entities which will require more time for it to carry out its analysis.
The OUR says it has engaged the services of an independent consultant to assist in evaluating the proposals.
The 360 megawatts project is part of efforts by the government to bring down the cost of electricity.
The project was originally awarded to the Jamaica Public Service Company but the request for proposal process was reopened after the light and power entity failed to satisfy all the requirements of the bid.
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A Jamaican man, working in the United States energy industry, has won a prestigious award for his work on a safety project that makes it possible for utility workers to detect stray voltage with a smart phone or tablet.
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RICHARDSON… this award is gratifying because it recognises our commitment to public safety |
Paul Richardson was named a winner of the Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a national energy research organization. Richardson is a district operator in system and transmission operations at New York power company Con Edison, where he has worked since 2004. He grew up in Portmore, St Catherine and attended Excelsior High School before migrating to the US as a teenager.
Richardson worked with two fellow Con Edison employees on research into using smart phone and tablet personal computer technology to detect contact voltage on streets. The technology could make it possible for a utility worker with a smart phone or tablet to detect contact voltage, also known as stray voltage, the company said, noting that the faster contact voltage is detected, the faster crews can make repairs, ensuring public safety.
“We live in a world that is power dependent and as technology advances the demand for that power increases. At Con Edison, nothing is more important than the safety of the New Yorkers who rely our service and the safety of our own employees,” Richardson told Caribbean Business Report yesterday.
“This award is gratifying because it recognizes our commitment to public safety,” he added.
At Con Edison, Richardson is responsible for switching electric transmission and distribution equipment in and out of service for routine work and emergency conditions.
“My primary objectives are the safety of our personnel, the reliability of our service and protecting our equipment and our customers’ equipment from damage,” he said.
He said the project came about as the company constantly explores new technologies and methods to make its service safer.
“This project was a part of that process. The technology could make it possible for a utility worker to use a portable device to detect objects that are inadvertently energized so that repairs can be made,” he said.
Richardson said his interest in engineering has its genesis from a summer internship he had at the Caribbean Cement Company.
“There I had the opportunity to observe industrial manufacturing and the technical aspects of maintaining a manufacturing plant,” he told Caribbean Business Report.
Now living in White Plains, New York, Richardson is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
Richardson was one of eight Con Edison employees who won Technology Transfer Awards for projects to make the delivery of electricity safer and more reliable.
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately US$12 billion in annual revenues and US$41 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York.
“We are in a constant and relentless search for technology and methods that can improve our service,” said Craig Ivey, the president of Con Edison. “The men and women of Con Edison are proud to see eight members of our team recognized for research that will benefit the New Yorkers we feel privileged to serve.”
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MONTEGO BAY, St James
The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) says it will be spending $5.6 million to upgrade the lighting facilities in three public-sector entities as part of efforts to drastically reduce their energy bills.
The upgrading work will be carried out on the May Pen and Spanish Town hospitals, as well as the Jamaica Police Convalescent Centre (JPCC).
According to the PCJ, this is projected to result in energy savings of 29,780 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, which translates into cost savings of more than J$950,000 annually.
Under the programme, the maternity ward at the Spanish Town Hospital will be retrofitted with fixtures “and other equipment” to reduce the use of electricity in the facility.
“The upgrade will cover restrooms, storerooms and general patient areas, most of which will be equipped with sensors to regulate lighting based on occupancy. The PCJ anticipates that the improvements will cut the hospital’s energy usage by 36,000 kWh per year,” said Dr Peter Ruddock, manager of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient at the PCJ.
Similarly, the PCJ will be installing a solar photovoltaic system, rehabilitating old lighting poles and replacing existing halogen lighting with LED (light-emitting diode) lamps.
In addition, the JPCC is set to reduce its energy usage by 17,000 kWh per year as a result of the lighting-efficiency improvements recently undertaken at that institution.
The PCJ said during the last fiscal year, it invested more than J$53 million on public-sector energy-efficiency projects which are projected to result in more than $19.7 million in savings annually.
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