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The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has halted the scheduled implementation of electricity wheeling to allow the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) to make an application to the Electricity Appeal Tribunal.
This means that the OUR will not begin to process applications for wheeling this month, as was scheduled.
A statement from the OUR today said the JPS requested that the regulator put a stop the process, pending the hearing of its appeal.
The grounds of appeal have not been revealed.
In return for the OUR
Students from Ascot Primary in St Catherine take in a wind turbine during a tour of the Wigton Windfarm in Manchester.
JAMAICA can triple its electricity generated from wind if it uses up its full potential.
A recent wind resource assessment identified four locations suitable for energy development with a combined potential generating capacity of 212 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually (just over five per cent of total consumption).
The study, which assessed 24 prospective sites across the island, revealed that Rose Hill and Top Lincoln in Manchester, Winchester at the foot of the John Crow Mountains in St Thomas, and Kemps Hill in Clarendon could each yield more than 5.3 million kWh a year.
The Winchester site in St Thomas was described as “by far the best wind site surveyed so far”, according to a Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) press statement released yesterday.
PCJ-owned Wigton Windfarm has already picked the Rose Hill site to place a 24 megawatt (MW) wind farm facility, for which it made a submission to the Office of Utilities Regulation’s (OUR) in response to a Request for Proposals for 115 MW of electricity generation capacity from renewable energy sources.
Wigton, which currently produces 97 million kWh from its 38.7 MW of installed capacity, projected that it could generate 63 million kWh from the new site by 2015.
And if the other three sites are developed, total wind energy production in Jamaica could surpass 320 million kWh, after taking Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS’s) Munro Wind Farm output into account.
What’s more, when the four addtional sites are exploited, Jamaica stands to reduce national oil consumption by at least 124,000 barrels a year, which cost above $1.2 billion annually.
The wind resource assessment was carried out as part of a wind and solar development programme, which is being implemented by Wigton under a funding agreement between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the PCJ.
“The programme aims to increase Jamaica’s utilisation of renewables by developing photovoltaic and wind power plants to supply the national grid,” said the PCJ release.
The study was based on data collected between November 2011 and January 2012.
“With our current focus on utilising our natural resources to address our energy challenges, both the government and the private sector need credible information to make development and investment decisions about viable energy solutions,” said Earl Barrett, Wigton Windfarm’s general manager.
“The national wind resource assessment will be a great resource to the majority of interests in Jamaica’s energy Sector, but we hope it will be particularly useful for potential investors.”
Worldwatch Institute highlights next steps for CARICOM region to
1. Oil and the Global Economy
Oil prices rebounded last Friday on better-than-expected Chinese factory data after six days of decline. At the close NY oil futures were up $2.75 a barrel to close at $105.97 and London crude was up $1.45 to close at $108.22. The IEA reported last week that global refining increased by 3.1 million b/d in June as new refining capacity came online and maintenance shutdowns at several big refineries concluded. Although Beijing reported a 9.7 percent increase in factory production during July over last year, there has been growing skepticism of late about the accuracy of China
Rarely do industrial facility energy efficiency managers have the sort of capital project budget that allows them to upgrade all of the poor performing equipment in their facility
Kelly Tomblin, CEO of the JPS.
AS THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) opened bids yesterday for the much-anticipated 360-megawatt electricity-generating project, it was revealed that three major companies have joined forces seeking to become the preferred bidder.
And in a late development yesterday, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) said it will be partnering with three local entities in response to the OUR’s request for proposals for the procurement of new baseload generating capacity.
“While JPS is not submitting an independent bid, we are pleased to partner with other bidders to ensure that new power generation is added to the grid. We also plan to work with our partners to continue to bring much-needed fuel diversity to Jamaica,” said Kelly Tomblin, JPS president and CEO.
In its news release yesterday, the JPS did not specify the companies that it would be partnering with, but only three entities have established a limited-liability company, called Energised Jamaica Limited, to bid for the project. The companies are Amourview Holdings Limited, Tank-Weld, and Mussons Jamaica Limited.
Energised Jamaica Limited is proposing to establish a 360-megawatt dual-fuel selective-cycle reciprocating power-generation plant, using number-six heavy fuel oil and natural gas. If successful, the company will be spending US$586.7 million to set up the plant.
Nigel Davy of Energised Jamaica Limited told