The Government has begun its pilot programme of introducing energy efficient street lights.
The programme, which kicked off on Tuesday, will see some $5,000 solar panels being installed in sections of Clarendon, Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine.
The initiative is aimed at reducing the government
Local Government and Community Development Minister, Noel Arscott (right), and President, Green Energy RG Caribbean Limited, Jonathan Burke, examine the features of a solar light emitting diode (LED) panel.
The Government is implementing a street light energy saving initiative, with the commencement of a pilot project, to be undertaken in three parishes over the next six months.
The initiative, being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, and United States-based technology and engineering solutions firm, Green Energy RG LLC, is aimed at significantly reducing the cost to the budget to maintain the country
THE 360-megawatt (MW) electricity generation plant to be located in Old Harbour, St Catherine, is now expected to come on stream in early 2016.
What’s more, commercial scale renewable energy projects won’t get the go-ahead until preferred bidders are selected from an ongoing request for proposal, which is scheduled to end in April.
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The commissioning of the 66-MW West Kingston Power Plant last year would have led to more efficient generation, allowing for a reduction in the overall fuel bill of Jamaica. |
Bringing it closer to the home or business also doesn’t appear to make solar-powered generating systems, or photovoltaic systems, any more feasible, given the sluggish process involved in getting them into net billing contracts.
And while electricity rates are at historical highs in Jamaica and it appears that Jamaica Public Service Company’s (JPS’s) customers won’t see a dramatic reduction in rates for years to come, some businesses still stand to benefit from power wheeling as early as this year.
Wheeling would give private entities access to JPS’s distribution lines to provide its own electricity at several sites across the island.
The OUR is now conducting a public consultation on a wheeling framework that would determine how self-generators would be charged for use of the national grid and aims to publish a determination notice on February 15.
Even then, wheeling has been a long time coming for some companies.
“The Jamaica Broilers (JB) Group has, over the years, invested considerable sums in its co-generation power plant with the hope that 2012 would have been the year that “power wheeling” became a reality in Jamaica,” said the company’s assistant vice-president of energy, John Carberry. “After a firm commitment by the nation’s leaders that this would be in place for 2012, the group was disappointed by several postponements and revisions of previously communicated launch dates.”
The uncertainty constrained the group’s further planned investments, but now JB hopes the framework and logistics will be unveiled early in 2013.
The commissioning of Jamaica Energy Partners’s (JEP’s) 66-MW West Kingston Power Plant last year meant more efficient generation, allowing for a reduction in the overall fuel bill of Jamaica, according to JEP’s managing director, Wayne McKenzie.
“This would have resulted in a lower heat rate system-wide,” he said.
The OUR also raised efficiency requirements, through the lowering of the heat rate target, that should have resulted in a 2.6 per cent reduction in fuel charges, which coupled with a 1.1 per cent increase in non-fuel tariff allowed to JPS, should have led to an overall reduction in electricity rates.
Nevertheless, JPS fuel rates ended last year 13 per cent higher than at the start, albeit slightly lower than the peak of $24 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in May, and was on average six per cent higher than the average in 2011.
JB said it took a leadership position in the use of renewable energy in its poultry operations last year. It embarked on a solar photovoltaic (PV) energy programme “that sees its contract farmer network making the single largest investment in renewable solar energy in the Jamaican manufacturing sector”, according to Carberry.
“This programme continues to roll out through 2013 and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2013,” he said.
But participating farmers have expressed grave concerns as their efforts to expedite the standard offer contract (SOC) with JPS has been challenged by “the slow pace of the required administrative support to facilitate the necessary Grid -tied connections and metering”, according to the JB
vice-president.
“It is hoped that 2013 will see this process being streamlined as it threatens to derail the progress made thus far,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
The OUR said that in order
to facilitate a smooth implementation process, a sub-committee including members from the Bureau of Standards, MSTEM and JPS has been established by the National Energy Council to deliberate and resolve issues related to its implementation.
Twenty-six licences have been issued since the project was implemented at the end of May.
On a larger scale, investors wanting to build out renewable energy capacity in the latest round of investments in Jamaica will have to do so by early 2015.
Up to 115 megawatts (MW) are up for grabs.
The regulator is pushing for renewable generation plants to be up and running by May 2015.
Currently, approximately 64 MW of the 930 MW installed generating capacity in Jamaica is made up of wind and hydroelectric generators.
Another 6.4 MW hydro plant in Magotty, St Elizabeth, is set to come on line next year. Adding another 115 MW to that amount would substantially increase the proportion of electricity generated by renewables.
However, JPS’s owners are bringing 360 MW of capacity to be fired by natural gas on stream by 2015, to replace older and less efficient plants, which are rated at 292 MW, and add 68 MW to the grid.
The new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants are now expected to come on line by the first quarter of 2016, instead of mid 2014 as originally required, or 2015 as was projected up to late last year.
The delay in implementing the largest single power generation project in Jamaica was due to uncertainties in the delivery date and price for procurement of natural gas through the GOJ Steering Committee led LNG Project.
However, last year the Government dropped the LNG Project, opting instead to leave the procurement to the private sector, or more specifically the owners of the new power plant.
“2013 may be a watershed year for generation in Jamaica,” said McKenzie. “The status of the natural gas project decides how pricing of energy and development will be done going forward. One must be mindful that a true fuel mix is required for generation and not just a majority switch from heavy fuel oil to natural gas.”
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WE are aware that many factors can affect negotiations between the Government and business entities wishing to set operations here.
Those factors can range from complex to the most minute detail. Either way, they most times lead to start-up delays that frustrate all parties involved.
With that in mind, we hope that the Government and Russian firm UC Rusal, owners of Alpart, can sign off on a reopening date for the alumina plant as quickly as possible. Ideally, we wouldn’t mind if that agreement could be reached before the middle of this month, as was projected by an official of the mining and energy ministry and reported in last week’s edition of the Jamaica Observer Central.
According to the ministry official, “the discussions are continuing and they are very productive, but they are at a delicate stage”.
The mid-January date offered by the official followed on a promise by Mining and Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell, in November, for word on the plant’s reopening by the end of last year.
That word cannot come too soon for the people of St Elizabeth, particularly those in the south-eastern section of the parish. In fact, the entire Jamaica, we believe, will welcome the reopening of Alpart, so too the Kirkvine plant
WE are aware that many factors can affect negotiations between the Government and business entities wishing to set operations here.
Those factors can range from complex to the most minute detail. Either way, they most times lead to start-up delays that frustrate all parties involved.
With that in mind, we hope that the Government and Russian firm UC Rusal, owners of Alpart, can sign off on a reopening date for the alumina plant as quickly as possible. Ideally, we wouldn’t mind if that agreement could be reached before the middle of this month, as was projected by an official of the mining and energy ministry and reported in last week’s edition of the Jamaica Observer Central.
According to the ministry official, “the discussions are continuing and they are very productive, but they are at a delicate stage”.
The mid-January date offered by the official followed on a promise by Mining and Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell, in November, for word on the plant’s reopening by the end of last year.
That word cannot come too soon for the people of St Elizabeth, particularly those in the south-eastern section of the parish. In fact, the entire Jamaica, we believe, will welcome the reopening of Alpart, so too the Kirkvine plant
THIS WEEK, Blue Energy, a British company, announced that it will build Africa’s largest solar power plant in Ghana. By the time it is completed in 2015, the 155-megawatt facility will be the fourth-largest power plant in the world and is expected to supply 20 per cent of the Ghanaian government’s target of generating 10 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Apart from being the second-largest producer and exporter of cocoa in the world, Ghana is a significant producer of oil and, in March, Tullow Oil of London stated that an oilfield it found off the coast was a major find. Still, Ghana has made it easy for this US$400-million investment in solar energy to go ahead. The Nzema project will be situated on 183-hectares (about 403 acres) of land in western Ghana. The Ghanaian government has given the investor a100-year lease, as well as planning and connection permission to the 161kV West African Power Pool transmission line, which links Ghana to the Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Int’l investors responded swiftly
The CEO of Blue Energy, Chris Dean, speaking to the
The Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS, says preparatory work has started on the construction of the second Maggotty Hydroelectric Power Plant.
The plant is expected to add six megawatts to the national grid upon completion in November next year.
A statement from the power company says 30 jobs have so far been created with this number expected to increase as the project continues.
JPS has committed US$33 million to the building of the new plant
Some Jamaicans and persons in the wider Caribbean and the Eastern United States are still picking up the pieces, following the passage of Hurricane Sandy in
Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) announced Thursday that it will exclusively distribute solar water heaters from Israeli supplier, Nimrod Industries Limited.
It forms part of ATL’s new thrust to offer energy-efficient solutions to Jamaican homes and businesses.
“There has been a prominent call for homes and businesses to ‘go green’ with several local government agencies and financial institutions supporting ventures in alternative energy. With the Nimrod distribution, ATL is bringing the best of Israel’s solar technology to Jamaican shores,” said ATL’s Energy and Engineering Manager Paul Grey in the release.
ATL said that the Nimrod product ideally captures natural light whilst protecting against rust which develops after exposure to ‘hard water‘.
“In the Caribbean, we are prone to ‘hard water’ – that is water with mineral elements. Nimrod coats their piping with enamel which prevents mineral deposit build-up and ultimately extends the life of the heater, ensuring savings for customers,” said Grey. “We are pleased that Nimrod has chosen to permeate the Jamaican market. We think the time is right and that Jamaicans are ready to invest,” Grey stated.
ATL is owned by Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart.
Solar water heaters have grown in popularity since the 1990s, especially within resorts as a means of reducing electricity costs.
ATL will be going up against companies such as longstanding player Isratech Jamaica, which also distributes solar heaters in partnership with an Israeli company, Chromagen.
Isratech Jamaica has, since the 1990s, imported the finished water heaters for local sale but this month announced plans to start local production of heaters. It will import the components from Chromagen and assemble the heaters at its plant at Kendal in Mandeville once it finalises a J$15-million plant expansion.
The terms of ATL’s deal with Nimrod were not disclosed, neither did ATL respond to requests for comment up to press time on the type of investment and infrastructure that will surround its new product line.
business@gleanerjm.com
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