Study Tour of Wind and Solar Farms
By: August 22, 2017 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- The tour to the Wigton Windfarm in Rose Hill, Manchester, included presentations on the facility and its contribution to the national electricity grid. This was followed by a stop at the Content Solar Farm in Clarendon, which features 160 acres of some 90,000 solar panels.
The Full Story
Several senior officers of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation on Friday (August 18) participated in a study tour aimed at engaging stakeholders with renewable sources of energy and the mitigation and adaptation work being done locally.
Among those on the tour were Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Colonel Oral Khan; Principal Director for Climate Change, Una May Gordon; Principal Finance Officer, Franklin Thomas; Director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, and several key officials in the Climate Change Division.
The tour to the Wigton Windfarm in Rose Hill, Manchester, included presentations on the facility and its contribution to the national electricity grid. This was followed by a stop at the Content Solar Farm in Clarendon, which features 160 acres of some 90,000 solar panels.
The team made a final stop at the Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation in Salt River, where they were introduced to the work being done in the area and the organisation’s conservation efforts in partnership with the communities in which it operates.
Colonel Khan, in an interview with JIS News, said the tour gave him a better understanding of renewable energy generation and confirms that it is a worthwhile investment for the Government.
“This is an excellent experience, and when we speak now about the need to go with more renewables, we have a much greater appreciation of what we are talking about, what is doable and what can be achieved, so we can be even more forceful in our argument,” he said.
Climate Change Principal Director, Una May Gordon, meanwhile, said it is important for staff in the Ministry to be engaged with what is happening on the ground as it relates to climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
She further noted that the understanding gained from the tour will also be important in formulating strategies for accessing climate-change financing, particularly through the Green Climate Fund.