#Kingston, March 29, 2019 – Jamaica – The Government is advancing its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which targets 56 per cent electricity generation from wind and solar sources for the national power grid by 2037.
This was disclosed by Science,
Energy and Technology Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, while addressing Mayberry
Investments Limited’s monthly Investor Forum at The Knutsford Court Hotel in
New Kingston on Wednesday (March 27).
The IRP will establish the projected electricity demand over a 20-year
period; determine the generation capacity and technologies to be used to
satisfy the demand over this period; and establish agreements on the
transmission and distribution infrastructure to generate and deliver the
requisite power, and associated tariffs.
These provisions are consistent with the National Energy Policy:
2009 to 2030, which Mrs. Williams said proposes a range of options and
strategies that the Government is committed to pursuing over the short, medium
and long term.
“These
range from consciously incorporating energy-saving measures in our daily lives
to modernising the nation’s energy infrastructure,” she pointed out.
Additionally, the Minister said
the policy seeks to balance issues relating to energy demand and supply, energy
security, safety, conservation and development of renewable energy
technologies.
“Through this [approach],
Jamaica can lead the Caribbean and other small island developing states in
aggressively changing dependence on petroleum,” she further stated.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Williams lauded
the directors and management of Wigton Windfarm Limited, on which a
presentation was made during the forum, for committing to creating clean
alternative energy solutions for the nation’s benefit.
She also welcomed the State
entity’s proposed historic listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), which
will afford a wide range of Jamaicans the opportunity to purchase shares in the
company.
The Minister noted that Wigton is
expected to end the 2018/19 fiscal year, on March 31, with revenue inflows
totalling approximately $1.3 billion.
Based on this out-turn, among
other indicators, Mrs. Williams encouraged Jamaicans to buy into the company
and embrace renewable energy as a major source of electricity generation for
the future.
“It (is) the first in a series
of investments [in State] assets that the Government desires to be directly
owned by the people of Jamaica. This move is perfectly aligned with our vision
of economic independence,” she said.
The Minister said it is intended
“to allow ordinary Jamaicans the opportunity to own part of this company that
is powering our future with clean, environmentally-friendly, perpetually
available, virtually inexhaustible renewable energy”.
Mrs. Williams said at least 10,000
investors are being targeted to share in the growth prospects for Wigton Windfarm
Limited.
“It is doing its part to
diversify Jamaica’s energy mix, [thereby] making our economy more resilient. It
is doing its part in [also] reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, which,
today, we have to buy from other countries, using our precious foreign exchange
reserve. Wind power has pride of place in the future of the generation of
electricity in Jamaica,” she said.
A subsidiary of the Petroleum
Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), Wigton Windfarm Limited is the largest wind
energy facility in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Located in Rose Hill,
Manchester, the facility currently comprises three plants: the 20.7-megawatt (MW)
Wigton I, which began operating in 2004; Wigton II, an 18MW extension facility
that was commissioned in 2010; and Wigton III which came on stream in 2016. This combination brings the farm’s total
capacity to 62.7MW, which is deemed capable of adequately powering approximately
60,000 homes.
Contact: Rochelle Williams
Release: JIS
Photo Captions:
Header: Science, Energy and Technology Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams (second left), engages with (from left): Development Bank of Jamaica Managing Director, Milverton Reynolds; Wigton Windfarm Limited Managing Director, Earl Barrett; and Chairman, Oliver Holmes, during Mayberry Investments Limited’s monthly Investor Forum at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (March 27).
Insert: Science, Energy and Technology Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams (left), speaking during the Mayberry Investments Limited’s monthly Investor Forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (March 27). Looking on is General Manager, Wigton Windfarm Limited, Earl Barrett.
Mark Bell Photos