JPS has now signed a Power Purchase Agreement, with Eight Rivers Energy Company, which will be constructing a 37MW Solar Power Plant in Paradise Park Westmoreland later this year. Under the agreement, JPS will be purchasing electricity from the new solar facility for twenty years, to the year 2038.
New Energy Events reported on this PPA after its announcement last summer. Since then, the project has secured financing through USAID through the Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America (CEFF-CCA).
Speaking at the contract signing, His Worship, the Mayor of Savanna-La-Mar, Councillor Bertel Moore, expressed enthusiasm for the new development. Noting the decline of the sugar industry in Western Jamaica, he said he looked forward to the employment opportunities that the construction of the new facility would bring. The construction period of the plant is expected to hire some 200 to 300 persons (at peak).
President & CEO of JPS, Kelly Tomblin who also addressed the gathering, expressed her pleasure at the formal engagement with Eight Rivers Energy, as JPS remains committed to its vision of unleashing Jamaica’s growth and prosperity. She noted that JPS had been determined over the last few years to help advance the Jamaican economy by facilitating the introduction of new generating facilities, including renewables.
Managing Director of Eight Rivers Company, Angella Rainford, in speaking at the ceremony, noted that the company was pleased to have been given the go-ahead by the Office of Utilities Regulation to build this large scale Solar Power Generating Plant in Jamaica. This is the 2nd Power Purchase Agreement to be signed between JPS and a solar powered generating entity in two years. The other is WRB Enterprises, through Content Solar, a 20MW facility in Clarendon.
The new photovoltaic power plant will see solar panels covering roughly 200 acres. Construction is slated for completion by mid-2018.
