In an effort to continue to drive down electricity prices in Jamaica, the government has introduced a program that will allow individuals to produce their own electricity and sell excess back to the grid.
According to Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, Jamaicans electricity prices are already, “down from 40 cents per kwh to 24 cents per kwh for the price of electricity.”
The Wigton Wind Farm expansion project in Manchester, work underway in Clarendon to create the largest solar facility in the Caribbean, as well as the transformation of Government agencies into energy efficient buildings, are examples of the Government’s push to expand the grid system and reach more of the population through renewable technologies. Energy solutions, which include solar control film on windows, cool roof solutions, and overhaul of the air conditioning (a/c) system, were provided under the Energy Efficiency Conservation Programme (EECP), aimed at reducing energy costs across the public sector; the Government spends some $14 billion annually to pay for electricity and is responsible for almost 12 per cent of the country’s overall energy consumption.
JIS has reduced its energy consumption by 17.5% because it was among the first entities to benefit from the EECP, implemented in 2011, through funding by the Government in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
To read more about energy efficiency in Jamaica, click here.
