Workshops for Energy Services Companies

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, through the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC), is seeking to provide more support to the Energy Services Companies (ESCOs), with workshops that are expected to build the technical capacity of energy providers.

The workshops, which form one component of the wider European Union (EU) ESCO project, jointly funded by the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP)/EU Energy Facility and the Government of Jamaica, will be held in Kingston and Montego Bay from September 9-16.

Project Manager of ESCO, at the Jamaica Productivity Centre, Marjorie Stair, told JIS News that the workshops, to be conducted by the German firm, Berliner Energy Agency, will help to develop proficient persons who will further expand and diversify the country’s energy sector.

“The objective is that by the end of the project, we will have a cadre of trained professionals who can provide the measurement and verification of services and the other technical services required for this ESCO industry,” she said.

The workshops will target two groups, those involved with measurement and verification, such as energy engineers and energy service providers, and those in the International Energy Efficiency Financing Protocol (IEEFP), including bankers, lawyers, insurers, public administrators and utility regulators.

Ms. Stair added that after the workshops, the expectation is for “a much more improved awareness and understanding of what energy performance contracting is and how to use energy saving protocols.”

According to the JPC, the ESCO workshops will provide non-technical training as well as specific training for stakeholders in the areas of finance, the use of ESCO models and contracts, International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), International Energy Efficiency Financing Protocol as well as other relevant protocols.

The list of presenters will include Certified Measurement Professional, Vollard Kuhn, who has over 10 years experience in energy performance contracting and energy efficiency financing, and energy expert, Daniel Heese.