Private sector Archives - SolarBuzz Jamaica

Renewable Energy Project Improving Lives Of St Bess Residents

September 19, 2016 Webmaster

When Blue Mountain Renewables (BMR) began operating its 36-megawatt wind farm in Potsdam, St Elizabeth, a few months ago, the facility became Jamaica’s largest private-sector renewable energy project.

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley, who gave the keynote address at the official opening on August 11, pointed out that the wind farm would help to diversify the country’s energy matrix and ease the dependence on imported fossil fuels.

“The wind farm is expected to reduce greenhouse gases by about 66,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, roughly equivalent to taking 13,000 cars off the road,” he informed.

Wheatley also applauded the relationship and assistance the company has given to the neighbouring schools, Munro College and Hampton High, as well as the treatment of farmers in St Elizabeth who were affected during the construction phase.

Principal of Hampton High Heather Murray said that she could literally see the ‘wind of change’ with the advent of the BMR wind project.

She bemoans the fact that nearly a quarter of her school’s budget is spent on high electricity cost, money that could be spent on building a state-of-the-art science laboratory.

“BMR brings hope and we welcome them wholeheartedly. We are also excited about the efforts to go green and we are doing our part here at Hampton. Earlier this year, we swapped all fluorescent light bulbs for more environmentally friendly LED bulbs,” Murray stated.

She also informed that Hampton had installed about 12 solar panels to integrate renewable energy into their electric supply. The panels, combined with small wind turbines on the campus, now provide about one-fifth of the school’s energy needs, she noted.

TO SERVE THOUSANDS

The BMR Jamaica Wind project will serve thousands of customers annually. Power will be sold to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company, under a 20-year power-purchase agreement. This electricity is expected to be among the lowest cost sources of power available on the JPS system.

Jamaica currently relies on oil imports to meet 90 per cent of its energy needs. This leaves the country vulnerable to fluctuating oil prices, which can make it difficult to budget and plan effectively.

To ease the dependence, the country has set a target to generate 30 per cent of its energy from local renewable sources such as hydro, wind and solar power by 2030.

President of BMR Bruce Levy said construction of the project was made easier by the cooperation of the Potsdam residents and the appreciation they showed for the work being done in their community.

“We made sure there was significant benefit to the local and wider community, with billions of dollars of direct spending and employment of hundreds of Jamaicans during construction. We say, without any fear of contradiction, that we are committed to community development,” he said.

Levy informed that the wind farm was made possible through a US$62.7 million financing package, including a US$42.7 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC); a US$10 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and a US$10 million loan from the IFC-Canada Climate Change Programme. BMR Energy provided an equity investment of US$26.9 million.

Gleaner

Climate Climate Change Environment News

Private Sector Targets 2016 Climate Talks

September 15, 2016 Webmaster

To take better strategic advantage of climate finance opportunities while continuing the courtship of local business interests, Jamaica is looking to have private sector representation on its team to Marrakesh in November.

“In this COP (Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), we would want even one private sector representative – and probably, more specifically, from the financial sector – accompanying the delegation,” said head of the Climate Change Division.

“I am going to shamelessly and aggressively pursue that to see if it will happen,” she added.

According to Gordon, who recently assumed leadership of the division, it is critical to have the private sector fully sold on and involved in Jamaica’s climate change response efforts.

“When we have a weather event, then people suffer, but the private sector’s bottom line is [also] impacted severely. So we want the private sector to have a higher profile in this round,” Gordon noted.

Among the climate change impacts facing Jamaica and other small-island developing states of the Caribbean are extreme weather events, including hurricanes and droughts.

Both types of events have seriously affected the performance of the Jamaican economy in the past.

BILLIONS LOST

For example, data compiled by the Planning Institute of Jamaica on nine hurricanes impacting the island between 2001 and 2010 put the estimated cost at more than $111 billion.

The infrastructure sector is said to have accounted for $51.7 billion of that sum, while the transport sector, including roads and bridges, accounted for $44.4 billion.

Climate threats to Jamaica extend beyond extreme weather events to rising sea levels and the associated negative impact on coastal livelihoods. They also include warmer global temperatures and the negative health implications that flow from that, including an increase in diseases such as dengue.

Gleaner

Alternative Energy Climate Change Crude Oil Electricity Energy Saving Government News Oil Solar Energy

Jamaica To Do Its Share Of Climate-Change Mitigation

January 28, 2016 Webmaster

Jamaica is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 1.1 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, as part of its global commitment to take climate-change mitigation action.

To bring this about, the island – as reflected in its nine-page Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) document to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – has undertaken to implement energy policies that ensure the island:

– uses energy wisely and aggressively to pursue opportunities for conservation and efficiency;

– has a modernised and expanded energy infrastructure that enhances energy generation capacity and ensures that energy supplies are safely, reliably and affordably transported to homes, communities and the productive sectors on a sustainable basis; and

– achieves its energy resource potential through the development of renewable energy sources by increasing their share in its primary energy mix of 20 per cent by 2030.

Such policies are also to ensure that government agencies and ministries are a model/leader in energy conservation and environmental stewardship, and that the island has a well-defined and established governance, institutional, legal, and regulatory framework.

Fully implemented energy polices need, too, to ensure that private industry embraces “efficiency and ecological stewardship to advance international competitiveness and to move towards a green economy”, the document said.

The Gleaner

Alternative Energy Climate Change Crude Oil Government News Oil Solar Energy

New Climate Deal A Signal To Private Sector

December 16, 2015 Webmaster

Khan … I would say to the private sector, look at investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The new global climate deal, reached after two weeks of intense negotiations, is a signal to the private sector, local and international, of the need to reassess current investment flows.

Jamaican negotiator Dr Orville Grey said the private sector will be critical, given the stated goal of the new deal of “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 28C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.58C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change”.

“The private sector will at some point have to take the lead because the technologies that are likely to take us to carbon neutrality will likely come from the private sector and not the public sector, at least as it relates to technology,” Grey, coordinator for adaptation for the Alliance of Small Island States during the negotiations, told The Gleaner.

If the world is to meet the ‘well-below-two’ target, it will require a significant shift in the current high levels of consumption of fossil fuels, including coal and oil, towards renewables such as solar and wind.

Colonel Oral Khan, chief technical director in the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change and himself a member of the Jamaica delegation to the talks, was in full agreement.

“The private sector is encouraged under this agreement to support the mobilisation of finance to support adaptation and mitigation,” he said.

On Jamaica’s private sector, Khan said: “The State has submitted its intended nationally determined contribution commitment to [reducing greenhouse gas emissions] to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Secretariat. Our commitment is consistent with the goal of our National Energy Policy. I would say to the private sector, look at investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency. In time, I hope that we will see more entities entering into public-private partnerships.”

A Historic Turning Point

Neither Grey nor Khan is alone in their thinking; international leaders in business have echoed their sentiments.

“The business case for eliminating greenhouse gases by 2050 is irrefutable. Indeed, solving climate change presents the greatest economic and social development opportunity of our time,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, in a release to the media on Saturday.

“The new climate agreement is a historic turning point. Now business can and must innovate to lead the transition to a clean economy. Together, it is our duty as human beings, responsible citizens and business leaders to protect the environment. A transition to a clean and green economy will lift millions out of poverty, and ensure the planet’s health for generations to come,” he added.

Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, mirrored his comments.

“This is truly a turning point in human history. We now have the chance to advance the well-being of people everywhere, while creating millions of new jobs and ending our reliance on fossil fuels,” she said in the same release.

“This will help us build a safer, more peaceful world for all. This is exactly what business needs in order to thrive in the long run,” added Huffington.

The Gleaner

Electricity Government LNG News

Pressure On Paulwell – Private Sector Groups Demand Minister State Position On Disbanding EMC

April 14, 2014 Webmaster

Pengelley

ENERGY MINISTER Phillip Paulwell is facing demands that he state his position on the future of the Energy Monitoring Committee (EMC), which The Sunday Gleaner yesterday reported is to be disbanded.

Key private sector groupings such as the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), and the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Associa-tion (JMA) have reacted to the report with fury, stating that they “cannot understand why the minister would be considering disbanding this committee this early in the project”.

The EMC was established by Cabinet as part of its mandate to monitor the bid process for the 360-megawatt generation facility, ensuring that it strictly adheres to the arrangements prescribed by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).

The committee is also charged with ensuring that at the end of the process, the price of electricity provided by the licensee to the Jamaica Public Service Company does not exceed the agreed price per kilowatt hour.

“We would very much appreciate hearing from the minister his reasons for not wanting the committee to pursue its mandate,” the JMA and the JCC said in a joint media release.

The EMC is made up of nine members from the Government, the private sector, and the trade union movement.

The Sunday Gleaner

Alternative Energy Electricity News Solar Energy

Bid delay irks private sector groups

July 29, 2013 jrobinson

Three of the island’s major private sector organisations are again expressing disappointment at the recent decision by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to further delay the bid process for the 360 Megawatt Generating Project.

The organisations have also expressed alarm at the decision by the OUR to also remove the requirement for an up-front bid bond to be posted at the same time as submission of the bid.

In a joint news release yesterday, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), said that they were alarmed at these latest developments, which have come just two working days before the previous July 29 deadline.

According to the organisations, “the bid bond serves the critical purpose of mitigating against (i) the presentation of frivolous, unrealistic, initially-low bids that upon award require further negotiation with the OUR, and/or (ii) the presentation of apparently attractive bids, devoid of substance, that lack the appropriate due diligence and serious consideration, on the part of the sponsor and investors, that would only come after award.

“A removal of the bid bond requirement with bid submission is therefore an invitation for mischievous bid behaviour, delays and false promises. In fact for a project of this size, any bidder that is reluctant to provide a substantial bid bond must be viewed with some skepticism,” the statement said.

The private sector organisations said that they are cautioning the Government against fostering an environment that incentivises these kinds of strategies in such an important project that is needed urgently for the country’s economic growth.

According to the groups, the up-front provision of a substantial bid bond is a normal procedure in major infrastructural bids in Jamaica and worldwide, and this current move does not follow best practices, adding that while they reluctantly accept that the delay seems to be a foregone conclusion, they are strongly urging that the bid bond requirement be reinstated immediately, in order to ensure that transparency and credibility is maintained throughout this process.

The Jamaica Observer;

Alternative Energy Electricity News Solar Energy

Bid delay irks private sector groups

July 29, 2013 Webmaster

The organisations have also expressed alarm at the decision by the OUR to also remove the requirement for an up-front bid bond to be posted at the same time as submission of the bid.

The Jamaica Observer;

Alternative Energy Government News