On Friday New Fortress Energy and Jamalco broke ground for the construction of a 94 megawatt US$265 million (J$33.3 billion) liquefied natural gas-fueled combined heat and power plant at Jamalco’s Halse Hall headquarters in Clarendon. New Fortress Energy will invest $1 billion in Jamaica over the next several years, for this project with an estimated completion date of December 2019. Over 400 jobs will be created during the construction phase.
Chairman of New Fortress Energy, Wes Edens, lauded the progress of the Jamaican energy sector, and particularly the regulatory environment, noting of the Office of Utilities Regulation, “this has been by far the best regulatory environment that I have dealt with.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness commended NFE for showing faith in Jamaica despite the risks. He said the US$1 billion investment was significant. Holness noted that several major projects are either underway or in the pipeline, including in tourism, IT and BPO sectors and road infrastructure.
