Kelly Tomblin, CEO of the JPS.

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

Kelly Tomblin, CEO of the JPS.

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

Solar might just be the answer to our energy problem, but in order to know, we need to ask ourselves a few simple
1. Do I know exactly what JPS is charging me for?
2. Do I know the exact amount of energy my appliances are consuming?
3. Does my house meet the requirements for the installation of a solar system? For example; is my roof in good condition? Is part of the roof shadowed at any time during the course of the day?
4. What is the cost of a solar/ photovoltaic (PV) system?
5. How am I going to get funding for the project?
6. Which system would be more cost effective and better suited to my situation; a stand-alone system where I am independent of JPS or a grid-tied system where my photovoltaic system is synchronized with JPS and both work in tandem.
We at Solar Buzz Jamaica do believe that Solar is one of the best and cheapest alternatives presently available to us here
in Jamaica. However, we have noticed that in some cases it is not cost-effective for small homes and businesses to go solar. Based on the investments incurred for a solar system, the monthly JPS bill just may be cheaper, in other words the payback period may take years. Therefore, we recommend that no one should go blindly into installing PV systems without a proper energy assessment done on their home or building.
If we back track in November 2012 to the advice of the first official net billing JPS customer Mr. Gordon Lawrence, who
has had his solar system installed since 2008. He said,

The BBC’s Martin Patience: “In Shanghai it’s absolutely sweltering”

Temperatures in parts of China have hit record highs, prompting an emergency level-two nationwide heat alert for the first time.

In Shanghai, at least 10 people have died from heatstroke, as the city experiences its hottest July in 140 years, reports say.

Local journalists have demonstrated the heat by frying meat on the pavement.

The national heat alert covers nine provinces, including Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Shanghai and Chongqing.

According to figures from the Shanghai Meteorological bureau, Shanghai has seen 24 days with temperatures at or above 35C in July.

“It should be a new record since Shanghai had its own weather recording,” said chief service officer Wu Rui.

“Also, in July of this year Shanghai reached 40.6 degrees Celsius, its highest ever temperature. So the highest temperature in July also broke a record.”

Visitors at a water park enjoy themselves in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, 13 July 2013

In other parts of China, water parks are attracting huge crowds, like this one in Wuhan, Hubei province.

More than 10 people in Shanghai have died after suffering from heatstroke, state-run news agency Xinhua said, citing health officials.

In a TV report, journalists from Shanghai TV said they successfully fried a pork chop on a marble slab outdoors in just 10 minutes.

The practice appears to have become popular, with

Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell (standing) and Joan Spencer-Ernandez, Board Chair of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), bear witness as CMI Executive Director Fritz Pinnock and Jamaica Public Service Company Chief Executive Officer Kelly Tomblin sign an agreement to retrofit existing street lights with light-emitting diode (LED) units. The manufacturing and assembly of the lights are to be done locally by engineers and technicians at the CMI.

The Jamaica Observer;