Solar power in Jamaica

Jamaica's solar potential

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.

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	2019 kWp	Year ? kWp	Notes
Content Solar Ltd.	Clarendon					28,000			[4]
Grand Palladium Resort & Spa	Hanover			1,600					Sized and set up to never feed the grid[5][6]
WISYNCO	White Marl				1,000				[7]
Rainforest Seafoods	Kingston				460				[8]
J. Wray & Nephew Limited	Kingston				450				[9]
Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited	Montego Bay					450			[10]
Jamaica Broilers	Various		600						15 kW systems at about 40 chicken houses[11]
Omni Industries Limited	Twickenham Park			300					[12]
Rainforest Seafoods	Montego Bay					300			[13]
Toyota Jamaica Limited	Liguanea					170			[14]
Island Grill	Kingston				143				[15]
Caribbean Maritime Institute	Palisadoes				125				[16]
Courts Jamaica Limited	Half Way Tree	113							[17][18]
May Pen Ice	May Pen				103				[19]
American International School of Kingston	Liguanea		100						[20]
University of Technology	Papine			100					[21]
Hillel Academy	Norbrook							100	[22]
Tankweld Group	Seaward Drive			100					[23]
Tankweld Group	Rio Bueno							100	[23]
Food for the Poor	Spanish Town				100				[24]
Goddard Catering Group	Palisadoes				100				[25]
Stationery & Office Supplies Ltd.	Kingston							75	[26]
Dairy Industries Jamaica Ltd.	Pembroke Hall		60						[27]
Chas E Ramson Ltd.	Kingston		60						[28]
ATL Automotive	Oxford Road		58.8						[29]
Myers Fletcher and Gordon	Kingston			55					Solar-wind hybrid (additional 25 kW wind)[30]
Eight Rivers	Westmorland						51,000		[31]
	Totals	113	878.8	2155	2481	28920	51000	275	85,822 Kilowatt

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). ^[32]

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).^[33] 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.^[34] 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."^[35]

See also

• Solar hybrid power systems
• Jamaica § Energy

References

1. "Wigton Wind Farm Company". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
2. http://mstem.gov.jm/sites/default/files/National%20Energy%20Policy_0.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
3. http://myjpsco.com/business/net-billing/net-billing-faqs/ ^{[bare URL]}
4. "Jamaica 20MW Content Solar Project | WRB Enterprises".
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. "Wisynco to commission solar farm". 23 September 2015.
8. "Rainforest invests US$1m in solar energy". JamaicaObserver.com. 3 May 2015.
9. "JWN PV Plant Plant overview". www.sunnyportal.com.
10. https://twitter.com/SofosJamaica/status/715214502556528640 ^{[bare URL]}
11. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/revolt/jamaican-poultry-producer-not-chicken-about-solar-investment/ ^{[bare URL]}
12. http://www.danishgreentech.com/index.php/dgt-blog/95-business-blog/news-updates/173-300-kwp-pv-solution-jamaica ^{[permanent dead link]}
13. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
14. https://twitter.com/SofosJamaica/status/705773686784131073 ^{[bare URL]}
15. "Jamaican company Island Grill installs zero-injection photovoltaic self-consumption facility at headquarter office". 26 February 2015.
16. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
17. http://conserveitja.com/index.php/about-company ^{[dead link]}
18. "Courts ready for Yuletide with upgraded store". JamaicaObserver.com. 28 November 2012.
19. "May Pen Ice Company Limited PV System Overview". www.sunnyportal.com.
20. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
21. "UTech/JPS Commission 100 KW Solar Energy Project". University of Technology, Jamaica. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
22. "Hillel Academy 100KW Solar PV System - Isratech Ltd". Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
23. http://tankweld.com/?page_id=1092 ^{[dead link]}
24. "Food for the Poor Installs 100-Kilowatt Solar System – Jamaica Information Service". jis.gov.jm.
25. http://solarisenergy.us/portfolio/goddard-catering-group-jamaica/?doing_wp_cron=1467390581.3855469226837158203125 ^{[dead link]}
26. "Stationery company SOS aims to list on JSE". 2 April 2017.
27. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
28. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
29. "Jamaica Observer Limited".
30. "Law firm MF&G's $100-m renewable project to cut light bill in half". JamaicaObserver. 20 July 2014.
31. "Eight Rivers Solar Project". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2019-02-13.
32. "More Than 20,000 Homes to be Powered by New Solar Plant – Jamaica Information Service".
33. "Gov't to supply deep rural homes with solar, wind energy". JamaicaObserver. 19 June 2012.
34. "Jamaica to include solar in rural electrification program". Inrenewable Energy. 11 July 2013. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
35. "Light For All By 2017 - Paulwell Says Solar Power Will Be Employed To Energise Remote Rural Communities". Jamaica Gleaner. 3 March 2015.