Local and Overseas Companies Bid for Renewable Energy Project

A total of 28 proposals have been submitted to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) for the development of projects aimed at generating up to 115 megawatts (MW) of energy from renewable sources.

The submissions, from 20 local and overseas companies, were revealed during a public opening of bid documents on Monday, June 3, at the OUR’s New Kingston offices, minutes after the 3:00 p.m. closure of bids.

The proposals included two for wind projects, one for biomass, and 25 for solar energy. Eight of the proposals were received from local companies.

The 115 MW of renewable energy is expected to provide some 400,000 MW hours of electricity per year, which could potentially reduce Jamaica’s oil import expenditure by US$55 million.

Project Manager at the OUR, Peter Johnson, said the high level of interest in the project is very encouraging.

“We are hoping that these proposals will actually bear fruit and that we will get some good solutions out of them,” he stated.

Mr. Johnson said as part of the National Energy Policy, the Government is seeking to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources in Jamaica.

“This is the first tranche of that and we’re very excited with what we have seen,” he said.

The Project Manager said with the bids in hands, the OUR will now move towards the evaluation processes, which should be completed by August 5.

“The evaluation will look at the best proposals in terms of the best reliability, the best price and will also look to see if one proposal or a combination of proposals will best fit the needs of the country,” he informed.

The highest ranked applications will be notified on September 11.

The OUR is looking to complete the negotiation of project agreements by June 18, 2014. The selected applicants are expected to post their performance security deposit by June 28, 2014, and begin construction in August 2014. The proposed commissioning date is August 2016.

Proposals have been tendered from a mixture of local and overseas companies, including WRB Enterprises; Wirsol AG and Roc Energy Ltd.; Armorview Holdings Ltd.; the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ); Wigton Windfarm Limited; Deneb Ltd.; Blue Mountain Renewables; BNRG Renewables Jamaica Ltd.; Roraima Consulting Incorporated; and Optimal Energy.

In its proposal, the PCJ submitted a 20.98 megawatt photovoltaic solar generating project at a cost of more than US$63.16 million, while Wigton Windfarm has submitted a proposal for a 24-megawatt wind energy power generation project, at a cost of US$45 million.

Blue Mountain Renewables submitted a 34-megawatt wind power generation project for approximately US$77 million; overseas investor, Wirsol AG and Roc Energy Ltd. have tendered a proposal for a 78-megawatt solar park power generation project at a cost of some US$140 million; and New York-based entity, Roraima Consulting Incorporated, submitted a bid for a 24-megawatt solar power generating project, at a cost of approximately US$59 million.

A request for proposals (RFP) was issued by the OUR in November 2012, when it invited interested entities to submit bids for the supply of up to 115MW of renewable energy electricity generation to the national grid on a Build Own and Operate (BOO) basis.

Contact: Athaliah Reynolds-Baker