A new part 1C has been added to the Third Schedule part 1 of the GCT Act for energy saving devices:
1.
Phillip Paulwell, minister of science, technology, energy and mining. – FILE
Energy minister Philip Paulwell yesterday announced a counterintuitive measure that will delay the vetting of new power plant proposals in order to fast-track their approval.
The electricity regulator Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) will now advise Paulwell on the acceptance or rejection of proposals by March 30 instead of the original month-end deadline.
The extension saves these projects from a lengthy retendering which could last years. Such a delay would stall plans to slash the island’s high energy costs while threatening future blackouts.
“I have enabled them with a further period of time to the end of March to do their contemplation. They have received from JPS (Jamaica Public Service Company), and others, new proposals and they wish to study them carefully because the OUR and myself agree that time is of the essence, and we do not want to lose any more time – because the decision has to be taken now,” said Paulwell on Tuesday at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce forum on energy in Kingston.
“And rather than start the whole process again, once there is a prospect of pursuing a path of lower electricity prices, we want to implement it quickly,” he said.
JPS, the monopoly power distributor, submitted a proposal that incorporates an undisclosed fuel source as an alternative to its 360-megawatt natural gas plant, but the OUR requests additional information.
Approving these plants would usually result in public procurement of a fuel supplier which could take months or years. Paulwell would obviate this process via parliamentary approval.
“You could treat a proposal as an unsolicited offer, at which time, the Government can sign off on it and forego the need for procurement,” he explained.
The OUR will allow JPS until Friday, March 15 to submit details of an alternative proposal for provision of electricity-generation capacity. This was in response to a letter, containing a broad summary of its latest offer, sent on Thursday, January 31 by the JPS.
“The JPS and its stakeholders had missed its deadline of Wednesday, January 30 to complete the requirements under the request for proposal (RFP) for the 360MW project, and so the alternate proposal could not have been considered within the context of the RFP,” said the OUR in a media release on Tuesday.
The OUR said several other companies have expressed interest since the termination of the RFP process. Those companies also have until March 15 to “concretise” unsolicited submissions into firm proposals.
The OUR release stated that JPS missed another deadline granted to facilitate the provision of project details, including pricing and supplier.
“This was the third extension granted by the OUR to JPS … . They were given until January 30, 2013 to complete the outstanding matters relating to the bid,” said OUR.
In late 2011, JPS was awarded the right to construct a 360MW plant, which followed the issuance of an RFP from the OUR. The plant was supposed to be the largest of a planned 480MW programme.
The 360MW would have replaced old power plants with units fired by cheaper fuel, and add new capacity to the grid to maintain pace with the national energy demand.
steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com
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Daraine Luton,
Arthur Hall, Senior News Editor
An American firm hoping to spend US$700 million (J$65 billion) to set up waste-to-energy plants in Jamaica could walk away from the project.
Green Waste Energy says while it has not yet given up on Jamaica, it is becoming frustrated.
President of Green Waste Energy, James D Burchetta, says the infrastructure in Jamaica does not encourage investment in renewable energy, especially from waste.
Green Waste Energy had proposed to spend the billions of dollars to construct four processing plants across the island to transform the waste from the island’s dumps into electricity.
This would be in keeping with the efforts by the Government to have 115-megawatts of renewable energy added to the national grid by 2015.
The four plants would create approximately 1,700 full-time jobs and 1,000 jobs during construction pumping millions of dollars in the economy.
Last week, Burchetta expressed concern about the process to get the approval to construct the plants and the absence of a tipping fee for trucks taking waste to the major landfills.
“We applaud the Government’s efforts to reduce electric rates and help the environment with renewable energy,” Burchetta told
Jamaica Public Service Company will not bid on the 115 MW renewable energy project, says energy minister Phillip Paulwell in an advisory meant to allay fears that prospective investors would have to compete with the monopoly power distributor.
Additionally, the one per cent bond imposed on bidders will now be applied after the selection of qualified bids.
The adjustment followed complaints from the Jamaica Solar Energy Association that the upfront proposal costs were too high – ranging from just under US$1 million to as high as US$2 million, according association president Roger Chang.
The bid deadline has also been extended two months to June 2013.
More than 80 investors have already indicated interest in the project. They complained at a mid-January meeting with the OUR that, were JPS to participate in the project, the power utility, which controls the national grid, could easily under-bid them.
business@gleanerjm.com
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Phillip Paulwell
Arthur Hall,
Jamaica Public Service Company headquarters on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston. – File
The Office of Utilities Regulation has formally cancelled its agreement with JPS for development the 360 MW liquid natural gas plant, but the power company said Tuesday that the decision does not mean an end to the energy project.
Jamaica Public Service Company presented a modified version of the development to the OUR last Thursday, but would not say whether that plan still banks primarily on LNG for the plant ahead of feedback from the regulator on its proposal.
Company spokeswoman Winsome Callum told
Zia Mian … This inability to make a decision and the one-upmanship has cost this country tremendously. – Rudolph Brown/Photographer
Arthur Hall,