Cabinet Approves Loan Guarantee To Fund Wind Farm Project

Cabinet has approved a loan guarantee of US$16 million from the National Commercial Bank (NCB) to the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) for the financing of Wind Farm Project in Manchester.
Outlining the loan agreement at the weekly post-Cabinet Press briefing at Jamaica House on Monday (Jan. 26), Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman, said that the Ministry Paper on the project of the loan guarantee for the construction and establishment of the wind farm would be tabled in Parliament.
He said that the PCJ through its wholly owned subsidiary, Wigton Wind Farm Limited, would operate the wind farm, which would be located at Wigton on the Manchester Plateau.
The capacity of the wind farm is approximately 20 Mega Watts (MW) and it is expected to provide an average of seven Mega Watts given the variability of the wind regime.
“What the project will achieve is creating this source of energy and operating it and thus implementing the provisions of the Jamaica Energy Sector Policy regarding renewable energy resources,” the Minister said.
He explained that given the country’s high-energy bill the project was an effort to diversify the sources of energy by using renewable sources. “So it will have the objective of saving something of the nation’s annual oil bill and utilising of sustainable indigenous materials,” he said.
Additionally, the project will have the effect of transferring technology to Jamaica with the opportunity for local expertise on this large-scale wind energy project. It will also be environmentally friendly with the reduction of emissions.
Mr. White also mentioned that the project would provide research opportunities for the University of Technology, the University of the West Indies and the Scientific Research Council.
The overall cost of the project is estimated at US$24.2 million and funded by the Oret/Millev Export Grant from Holland with equity from PCJ and the NCB.