Renewables projects worth USD 200m to go live in Jamaica in 2016

Renewable power projects worth JMD 23.2 billion (USD 199m/EUR 179m) will be completed and put online in Jamaica by end-2016, the energy minister said Monday at the Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo 2015.

In the autumn of 2014 Jamaica Public Service Co Ltd (JPS) signed 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 78 MW of solar and wind power projects. These were selected in a tender, in line with the Jamaican government’s efforts to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The said projects include a 34-MW wind farm developed by BMR Jamaica Wind Ltd south of Malvern; a 24-MW wind park extension in Southern Manchester by Wigton Wind Farm; and a 20-MW solar park by US-based WRB Enterprises Inc in Content Village, Clarendon. In June, the Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC) inked a deal to lend USD 47 million (EUR 42m) to a unit of WRB for the solar project.

Jamaica aims to reach a 20% renewable power share by 2030.

(JMD 100 = USD 0.856/EUR 0.772)

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