Solar power in Jamaica

Jamaica's electricity sector is dominated by non-renewable generators that use petroleum products, primarily Bunker C fuel oil and automotive diesel which generated 93% of the annual output for 2014. There is a small contribution from a few small hydroelectric plants and a couple of wind farms, one of which, Wigton Wind Farm,[1] contributes a very small amount despite being the largest wind farm in the Caribbean.

Jamaica's solar potential

In 2005, Jamaica embarked on the preparation of a 25-year National Development Plan called "Vision 2030" which encompassed the National Energy Policy 2009–2030.[2] The policy was adopted in late 2009 and followed in 2010 by a National Renewable Energy Policy 2009–2030. According to the message from the then minister responsible for energy, "Since 2005, Jamaica has embarked upon the preparation of a 25-year National Development Plan called Vision 2030 which is expected to put the country in a path to achieve developed country status by 2030. One of the expected outcomes of the plan is the diversification of Jamaica’s energy supply to increase energy security and to contribute to the cost efficiency of the country’s energy sector."

After the National Energy Policy was approved the authorities set about creating a regulatory and technical framework for the interconnection of solar PV systems to the national grid in consultation with the grid operator. The result was the formulation of a Standard Offer Contract for the sale of electricity to the grid under a net billing arrangement.[3] Under the net billing arrangement any electricity not consumed on the premises it is produced, is delivered to the grid and is purchased by the grid operator at a price set by the Office of Utilities Regulation to be close to the avoided cost of generation by the existing suppliers. That price is available at the regulators web site. Any electricity consumed from the grid is billed at the regular retail prices and at the end of the month the difference between the delivered and consumed amounts is settled. Technical guidelines for the interconnection to the grid are also now available and the Government Electrical Inspectorate is prepared to perform inspection of installations. This is the basis on which most major installations have proceeded.

Installed Capacity

The following are some of the larger installations currently connected to the grid:

Notable PV projects in Jamaica
Owner Location/Parish 2012 kWp 2013 kWp 2014 kWp 2015 kWp 2016 kWp Year ? kWp Notes
Content Solar Ltd.Clarendon28,000[4]
Grand Palladium Resort & SpaHanover1,600Sized and set up to never feed the grid[5][6]
WISYNCOWhite Marl1,000[7]
Rainforest SeafoodsKingston460[8]
J. Wray & Nephew LimitedKingston450[9]
Caribbean Producers Jamaica LimitedMontego Bay450[10]
Jamaica BroilersVarious60015 kW systems at about 40 chicken houses[11]
Omni Industries LimitedTwickenham Park300[12]
Rainforest SeafoodsMontego Bay300[13]
Toyota Jamaica LimitedLiguanea170[14]
Island GrillKingston143[15]
Caribbean Maritime InstitutePalisadoes125[16]
Courts Jamaica LimitedHalf Way Tree113[17][18]
May Pen IceMay Pen103[19]
American International School of KingstonLiguanea100[20]
University of TechnologyPapine100[21]
Hillel AcademyNorbrook100[22]
Tankweld GroupSeaward Drive100[23][24]
Tankweld GroupRio Bueno100[23]
Food for the PoorSpanish Town100[25]
Goddard Catering GroupPalisadoes100[26]
Stationery & Office Supplies Ltd.Kingston75[27]
Dairy Industries Jamaica Ltd.Pembroke Hall60[28][29]
Chas E Ramson Ltd.Kingston60[30]
ATL AutomotiveOxford Road58.8[31]
Myers Fletcher and GordonKingston55Solar-wind hybrid (additional 25 kW wind)[32]
 Totals113878.8215524812892027534822.8

More than 20,000 Jamaican homes are expected to be powered by clean, affordable, renewable energy to be generated from the US$61 million solar electricity plant, being built in Content District, Clarendon.

Electricity produced by this 20-megawatt plant, the largest of its kind in the Caribbean, will replace approximately 3 million US gallons (11,000 m3) of fossil fuel per year.

Construction of the state-of-the art facility will now get underway, following an official ground breaking ceremony at the site, on July 9 (2015). [33]

Rural Electrification
See also: Rural electrification

In June 2012 Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell disclosed that, approximately 16,000 homes in remote parts of the island which do not have electricity are to be supplied with solar or wind electricity through the Rural Electrification Programme (REP).[34] At a USAID-funded Analysis and Investigation for Low Emission (AILEG) project symposium, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell stated that the REP has also been mandated to complete its target of providing electricity to 100 per cent of rural areas. “Those three per cent that now remain are in areas that are so far from the grid, it is too expensive (to provide), and we are going to be deploying photovoltaic systems in these areas,” he explained.[35] In March 2015 he told a newspaper that, by 2017, "we should no longer have REP in the way we do now", adding that if the Government finds it too challenging to run power lines into communities, it will use solar."[36]

See also

References
  1. "Wigton Wind Farm Company". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. http://mstem.gov.jm/sites/default/files/National%20Energy%20Policy_0.pdf
  3. http://myjpsco.com/business/net-billing/net-billing-faqs/
  4. http://wrbenterprises.com/energy/jamaica-28mw-content-solar-project/
  5. "Grand Palladium Resort unveils largest solar PV plant in Jamaica". ENGINEERING.com. 5 June 2014.
  6. "Government Committed to Renewable Energy Agenda". Jamaica Information Service. 9 June 2014.
  7. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20150923/wisynco-commission-solar-farm
  8. "Rainforest invests US$1m in solar energy". JamaicaObserver.com. 3 May 2015.
  9. "SMA Sunny Portal, JWN PV Plant Page".
  10. https://twitter.com/SofosJamaica/status/715214502556528640
  11. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/revolt/jamaican-poultry-producer-not-chicken-about-solar-investment/
  12. http://www.danishgreentech.com/index.php/dgt-blog/95-business-blog/news-updates/173-300-kwp-pv-solution-jamaica%5B%5D
  13. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Energy-Minister-hails-Rainforest-Seafoods--solar-energy-project
  14. https://twitter.com/SofosJamaica/status/705773686784131073
  15. http://www.energynews.es/english/jamaican-company-island-grill-installs-zero-injection-photovoltaic-self-consumption-facility-at-headquarter-office/
  16. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/environment/Maritime-Institute-unveils-upgraded-simulators_19076831
  17. http://conserveitja.com/index.php/about-company
  18. "Courts ready for Yuletide with upgraded store". JamaicaObserver.com. 28 November 2012.
  19. "SMA Sunny Portal, May Pen Ice Page".
  20. http://jamaicaobserver.com/environment/Solar-powered-learning_14466066
  21. "UTech/JPS Commission 100 KW Solar Energy Project". University of Technology, Jamaica. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  22. http://isratech.com/projects/item/424-hillel-academy-100kw-solar-pv-system
  23. http://tankweld.com/?page_id=1092
  24. "SMA Sunny Portal, Tankweld SD Page".
  25. "Food for the Poor Installs 100-Kilowatt Solar System".
  26. http://solarisenergy.us/portfolio/goddard-catering-group-jamaica/?doing_wp_cron=1467390581.3855469226837158203125
  27. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20170402/stationery-company-sos-aims-list-jse
  28. http://jamaicaobserver.com/business/Solar-boom_14077819
  29. https://mbasic.facebook.com/APSJamaica?v=info&expand=1&nearby
  30. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/environment/Half-a-million-reasons-to-go-green-_46560
  31. http://jamaicaobserver.com/news/ATL-saves-big-with-solar_16812999
  32. "Law firm MF&G's $100-m renewable project to cut light bill in half". JamaicaObserver. 20 July 2014.
  33. http://jis.gov.jm/more-than-20000-homes-to-be-powered-by-new-solar-plant/
  34. "Gov't to supply deep rural homes with solar, wind energy". JamaicaObserver. 19 June 2012.
  35. "Jamaica to include solar in rural electrification program". Inrenewable Energy. 11 July 2013.
  36. "Light For All By 2017 - Paulwell Says Solar Power Will Be Employed To Energise Remote Rural Communities". Jamaica Gleaner. 3 March 2015.

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