ENERGY Minister Phillip Paulwell says that the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) will now be responsible for sourcing the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) needed to fuel its new generation plant.
“We are very confident that with the tremendous international reach that Marubeni and East West Power (JPSCo parent company) have, they are quite capable of doing this on their own,” Paulwell told journalists at yesterday’s Jamaica House press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston.
He said the recent discussions in Japan resolved that JPSCo would be fully responsible for ensuring that the generation plant is properly fuelled.
He explained that the light and power company received a licence last year to establish 360 megawatts of new generation driven by natural gas. However, he said that the Government interceded and attempted to get the fuel to the plant by way of FSRU pipeline and LNG supply.
“JPSCo has now accepted full responsibility for that,” he declared.
As to concerns that JPSCo could be forced to use diesel if it is unable to source LNG, resulting in higher electricity costs, Paulwell said the issue was raised in the discussions.
“The intention now… is from day one that gas will be the fuel that will be used at this plant and the only time we should contemplate using diesel is in the event of a hurricane when you have to move out the FSRU unit for a couple days,” he said, adding that this has been accepted by JPSCo.
In relation to JPSCo’s guarantee that using LNG will result in lower electricity costs for consumers, Paulwell said that the Government