Seventy Net Billing Licences Issued Since January

Seventy net billing licences have been issued to power suppliers since the start of the year, bringing to 800 the total number of licences that have been approved since the arrangement started in 2012.

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Fayval Williams, made the disclosure during her opening remarks at the MPC Renewable Energy Forum, held on Tuesday (October 1), at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston.

Net billing is a facility that allows people to sell the excess power generated from renewable sources in accordance with a net billing licence and a contract with the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS).

“At the policy level, we will be revising our national energy policy and subpolicies to further develop the energy sector and establish new targets, especially for renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation,” she said.

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry recognises the importance of harnessing the potential of renewable energy sources to secure Jamaica’s energy future, and as a result is always seeking new opportunities and partnerships to build the sector.

She lauded MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Limited for its investment in the renewable energy sector and for helping the country to lead the Caribbean in its renewable energy thrust, through the erection of the Paradise Solar Energy Park in Westmoreland, which is the largest in the region with a 51-megawatt solar plant.

“Our recognition of the integral role that energy plays in development makes our commitment to diversifying our energy mix with the inclusion of renewables and cleaner fuels and securing Jamaica’s energy future that much stronger,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of MPC Capital, Ulf Hollander, said that the need for cleaner energy in the island and the Caribbean at large is very obvious, adding that the potential for renewable-energy production in the region is enormous.

“It is a widely accepted thesis that the dependence on fossil fuel has to come down; it has to be reduced,” Mr. Hollander said.

“This region and this country, in particular, know what it means to be dependent on commodity prices, and the lasting impact it has on the economy and also on politics,” he said.

Citing Bloomberg, an international financial media, he said wind and solar energy can cover two-thirds of the global energy needs and, luckily for Jamaica, the island has a boundless supply of wind and sun.

Turning to the solar park that MPC has built in the country, which sells power to JPS at US8.5 cents per kilowatt hour, Mr. Hollander said the plant demonstrates that renewable energy can provide clean energy that can compete with conventional electricity sources.