Rapid Assessment
Gap Analysis
Jamaica
Jamaica:
Rapid Assessment and Gap Analysis
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this report is to summarize the current situation in Jamaica with regard to the three SE4ALL
objectives, which are as follows:
•
Ensure universal access to modern energy services.
•
Reduce global energy intensity by 40%
•
Increase renewable energy use globally to 30%.
This report lists the gaps, obstacles, challenges, possible solutions and opportunities, and other
requirements for achievement of the national goals, and the effects that addressing these could have on
Jamaica’s social and economic situation. It also includes:
 Section 1: A brief assessment of the energy situation in the country within the context of its
economic and social development and progress towards poverty eradication.
 Section 2: A review of where the country is in terms of the three SE4ALL goals.
 Section 3: An estimate of the main challenges and opportunities with regard to the three goals of
SE4ALL, and a note of where the major investments, policies and enabling environments will be
required. This will provide a basis and background for an Action Plan that may follow as part of the
SE4ALL activities in the country.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Jamaica has extensive energy infrastructure, with both public and private generators. Almost the entire
population has access to the electricity supply. There is relatively strong technical capacity with regard to
conventional generation, and with regard to some renewable sources, including wind turbines and ethanol
dehydration, and there are a number of relevant research and development projects in the country.
However, the level of energy intensity in Jamaica has gone up over the last two decades, rather than down,
and progress towards increasing the use of renewables has been modest. Jamaica has therefore achieved
SE4ALL goal 1, but is not yet progressing towards goals 2 and 3.
With regard to the social and economic situation, Jamaica was the strongest economy in the Caribbean
until 1972, but is now one of the weakest, having had relatively little growth in real incomes over the last
four decades. Unemployment, under-employment, poverty, crime and the perception of corruption remain
relatively high; the rate of homicide is one of the highest in the world. The economy is projected to shrink
again this year.
The main impediments to Jamaica’s development are crime and corruption, poor governance, high energy
costs, shortages of skilled labour, slow and dysfunctional government bureaucracy, and a poorlyperforming judicial system.
The achievement of the full set of SE4ALL goals would remove one of the barriers to Jamaica’s
development. However, it would still be necessary to resolve the other impediments before Jamaica can
achieve its full potential, and re-emerge as one of the strongest economies in the region.
Section I: Introduction
There has been a dramatic shift in the global economy over the last two decades, with many manufacturing
activities relocating to developing economies. As a result, China’s GDP has increased 16-fold, its share of
global manufacturing has grown from 2.9% to 20%, it has moved from being the 10th largest economy in
the world to the second largest, and it is likely to overtake the USA as the world’s largest economy within
the next two decades. However, the growth rates in China and the other BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia,
India and China) are now being surpassed by the ‘N-11’ group (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico,
Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam) and the CIVETS group (Colombia,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa). These rapidly growing economies are being followed,
in turn, by an increasingly diverse group of countries; of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world
between 2000 and 2010, six were African. As a result of these trends, by 2030 about half of world GDP will
be generated in countries that are today still classed as developing. This will be one of the fastest and most
profound shifts in world economic power in human history.
The implications for energy and resources
As part of this economic transformation, the global pattern of resource demand and environmental impacts
is changing with equal speed. International Energy Agency (IEA) 2010 projections show total world
consumption of marketed energy increasing by 49% from 2007 to 2035, from 495 quadrillion British
Thermal Units (BTU) to 739 quadrillion BTU, with most of this increased demand coming from non-OECD
nations. The projections indicate that the non-OECD economies will consume 32% more energy than OECD
economies by 2020 and 63% more by 2035. China and India, which accounted for 10% of world total energy
consumption in 1990, and 20% in 2007, are expected to account 30% of total world energy consumption by
2035, while the U.S. share will fall from 21% in 2007 to some 16% by 2035i.This rapid shift in the pattern of
world energy consumption is happening partly because of the rapid development of the new industrial
powers, and partly because 30% of the world’s population still does not have reliable energy services, so far
more energy will be needed in future as the world population is projected to be over 9 billion by 2070. If
this demand continues to be met predominantly from hydrocarbons, demand for oil will increase by almost
40% and coal by almost 75% over the same period. This will make it impossible to meet carbon reduction
targets, resolve the problems of climate change and meet national needs for energy security without very
significant improvements in energy efficiency and productivity.
Climate change
The 2012 World Bank ‘Turn Down the Heat’ report concluded that the world’s average surface temperature
is now 0.8° higher than the pre-industrial levels, primarily as a result of the emission of greenhouse gases,
and that it could be 4°C higher by 2060, even if current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change emission pledges and commitments are met in fullii. Without a major change in policy, the
temperature will continue to rise; it could be 6°C higher by 2100. This level is likely to trigger ecological
catastrophe, as many parts of the world could become effectively uninhabitable. Southern Europe, for
example, may come to resemble the Libyan Desert.
The main driver of climate change is the world’s high level of dependence on fossil hydrocarbons as fuel.
This results in emissions of carbon dioxide, which the 2012 World Bank report currently estimates at 35
billion metric tons per year, and which it projects to rise to 41 billion metric tons per year in 2020. Recent
World Bank and International Energy Agency reports have warned that the continued commissioning of
coal, oil and gas power infrastructure will ‘lock in’ a path of increasing greenhouse gas emissions for
decades to come.
2
In order to ensure that the temperature rise remains below 2 degrees, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) estimates suggest that it would be necessary for the OECD nations to peak their emissions by
2015/16 at the latest, and fully decarbonize their economies by 2030, and the non-OECD nations to peak by
2025, and fully decarbonize by 2050. This is unlikely to happen; China is now the world’s largest carbon
emitter, and its emissions are still rising. Recent assessments indicate that China’s carbon emissions will not
peak until 2030-2040, or perhaps 2050. The particular significance of this is that on business-as-usual
growth projections, China will by then be emitting almost as much carbon (equivalent) as the USA, India
and the EU combined. This is why the world temperature rise is now likely to be at least 4°C.
Future world
The Global Trends 2030 report by the US National Intelligence Council concurs with the above analysis. It
notes that world demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35%, 40%, and 50%
respectively by 2030, due to the increase in the global population and the increased consumption patterns
of an expanding middle class. The report notes that climate change will create instability in many regions,
partly by contributing to water and food shortages iii.
It is likely that national development options will be increasingly shaped by a small set of key factors,
initially including surging demand for energy and materials from emerging economies and potential
shortages of some key resources, but then followed by potential environmental disaster.
The only way to avoid this outcome is to implement far more energy-efficient solutions, and to develop
new, low-carbon energy sources that can supply the volumes required. It is particularly important to
develop solutions that are designed for the new industrial powers and other developing countries, as these
countries will otherwise become the primary drivers of accelerated climate change. The increased demand
for power in the new industrial nations will be significantly larger than the demand reductions attributable
to the efficiency gains made in the post-industrial nations, so the world’s total power demand will continue
to rise. This means that the associated carbon emissions will also continue to rise, unless there are
dramatic improvements in the efficiency with which energy and resources are used and a very rapid
expansion of low-carbon energy sources.
Responding to the threats
The world is making some progress. In 1980, the global energy system was just 34% efficient. Today, the
global energy system is 39% efficient, but this still represents a high level of wastage and loss. About half of
the ‘missing’ energy is lost in energy generation and transmission, the rest is lost as a result of leaky
buildings, inefficient appliances and so on. Current estimates suggest that greater efficiency in energy
generation and transmission, and more energy-efficient buildings, appliances, industrial processes and
transport systems could make the global energy system 50-60% efficient by 2040.
There are many opportunities to improve efficiency. For example, buildings are responsible for more than
one third of global energy use. This includes the energy required in the mining, manufacturing, transport
and assembly of building materials, and the final demolition and recycling of structures, but the greatest
demand is generated in the use and operation of the building. As a result, buildings are – in most countries
– the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions. Building-related emissions were estimated at 8.6
billion tons in 2004, and this is projected to double by 2030. The residential sector alone (i.e. not including
office, industrial and public buildings) accounts for 25% of total end-use demand, and 19% of global
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently available technologies could reduce energy consumption in
buildings by about 30-50% without significantly increasing investment costs. Even very modest
improvements in building efficiency could reduce world end-use demand for energy by 32 QBTU by 2020.
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In March 2008, the UK Government set a target of making all new schools and domestic buildings zerocarbon by 2016, and all non-domestic buildings by 2019. On 23rd April 2009, the European Parliament
agreed to amend the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to require that by 2019 all new buildings
must be net zero energy; i.e. that they produce the same amount of energy that they consume. This does
not require buildings to be self-sufficient in power, but allows for cost-effective balancing of supply and
demand; buildings may purchase energy from the grid when their loads exceed their generating capacity,
and sell energy from their on-site generation technologies back to the grid when their loads are low 1.
In developing countries alone, an investment of $90 billion in similar energy-efficient investments in
buildings is expected to generate savings of over $600 billion in avoided energy costs. An estimated 3.6
billion tons of greenhouse emissions could be avoided through energy efficiency measures in buildings by
2050 at net zero cost, and significantly greater savings at moderate cost. However, much more still needs
to be done in order to avert the threat of climate change.
The implications for the Caribbean
Climate change
The nations of the Caribbean are mostly small islands, and much of the housing stock, economic operations
and transport infrastructure is on coastal plains that are vulnerable to sea level rise, increased incidence of
severe weather, flooding and storm surges. Some projections of the effects of climate change show an
increased risk of extreme weather conditions in future, including droughts, floods and major, as rainfall
patterns shift and warmer sea temperatures strengthen hurricane systems once formed. If so, there are
serious implications for the Caribbean, which is already impacted periodically by severe weather systems.
For example, Hurricane Gilbert struck the southern coast of Jamaica in 1988 and caused extensive damage
to housing, electricity infrastructure and the agricultural sector. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit Central
America, caused 10-20,000 people to drown in floods and mudslides, left 460,000 people homeless, and
caused economic losses of US$6.0 billion (mainly in agriculture, forestry and fisheries). Hurricane Ivan in
2004 did significant damage to Jamaica, especially on the south coast. Cuba was hit by Hurricanes Gustav,
Ike and Paloma during 2008, which caused economic losses of US$10 billion (over 20% of Cuba’s GDP). In
October 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit Jamaica, and current projections iv indicate that the immediate economic
consequences include a 0.7% increase in domestic food prices and the loss of 1.7% of GDP, the latter due
mainly to lost tourism revenue, damaged infrastructure and lost agricultural output2.Any increase in either
the frequency or the severity of hurricanes would therefore make it significantly harder for the Caribbean
nations affected to recover between storms. There may also be possible compounding factors, where the
concurrent loss of coral reefs, which results from over-fishing, increased turbidity and warmer and more
acid waters, may make beaches increasingly vulnerable to erosion, driven by rising sea levels and more
severe weather conditions. Over time, zoning and planning can gradually move people and the
infrastructure into safer areas, and stronger building codes can reduce the cost and the number of
casualties, but this will take decades.
Energy prices
Energy price volatility is also a particular problem for poor and middle-income countries with high levels of
oil imports compared to their GDP. This is partly because their economic dependency on oil (i.e. the
GDP/energy ratio) in such countries has not declined to the same extent as it has in developed nations, and
partly because some of them have high current account deficits, large public debts, and limited access to
1
A net zero building generates the same amount of power that it consumes; an energy-plus building
generates more power than it consumes.
2
Hurricane Sandy also caused a delay in the drafting of this report. We are grateful to the IDB for their
support throughout this period.
4
global capital markets due to the perception of weak governance, economic fragility and exchange rate
volatility risk. In such circumstances, a rise in the price of oil usually has multiple impacts, increasing energy
costs, increasing indebtedness, reducing competitiveness and growth, and compounding social problems. A
sustained rise in the price of oil could therefore disrupt a number of relatively fragile economies, including
Jamaica, resulting in an increase in emigration, an outflow of skills and capital, and an increased rate of
illegal activities as legitimate development options erode. Rising crime rates and eroding security deter
investors, thus delaying recovery and precipitating a further downward spiral.
The task for Jamaica
The task for countries like Jamaica now is to find a development path that reconciles human capital
accumulation, sustained, high rates of economic growth, rising levels of resource efficiency and increasing
environmental protection.
There is significant scope to use improved technology and production systems to give more efficient
productive use of human capital in Jamaica. It is important to note that technological change has
implications for the economy, particularly the labour market; most of these implications are positive
overall, but some can be negative (typically for the low-skilled), and typically difficult to predict in detail.
This illustrates the complexity of technological choices; each choice has a different pattern of economic,
social and environmental outcomes. This highlights the importance of identifying those emerging
technologies that can be most readily assimilated and also support Jamaica’s national development agenda.
Many sectors in Jamaica have a large untapped potential for positive change, to become far more efficient
in terms of resource use, less environmentally intensive, and less costly. However, there are still a range of
technological, economic and marketing barriers to widespread uptake. The purpose of this report is to help
to identify those barriers. This will, in turn, help to support Jamaica’s successful development and
emergence as a leading, next-generation ‘green’ economy.
The role of the SE4ALL program
The SE4ALL program is designed to help countries like Jamaica to address these linked energy and
environmental challenges. The SE4ALL goals for 2030 are as follows:
•
Ensure universal access to modern energy services.
•
Reduce global energy intensity by 40%
•
Increase renewable energy use globally to 30%.
The SE4ALL program was launched in Jamaica on the 31st July 2012v vi.
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1.1 COUNTRY OVERVIEW
Physical
Jamaica has an area of 11,453 sq. km (4,411 sq. miles). It is 235 km (146 miles) long from east to west, and
82 km (51 miles) across at its broadest point. It is about 1,127 km (700 miles) south of Miami, Florida, USA,
and 145 km (90 miles) south of Cuba, the nearest island. Jamaica is mountainous, with a central chain of
mountains running east to west. About half of the island’s area is over 300 m (1,000 feet) above sea level.
Blue Mountain Peak, the highest point of the island is 2,256 m (7,402 feet).
Jamaica has a sub-tropical climate with an average temperature on the coastal lowlands of 26.7 ⁰C (80 ⁰F).
The temperature drops by about 16⁰C per 1,000 foot increase in altitude; the average temperature at Blue
Mountain Peak, the island’s highest point, is 13⁰C (56⁰F). The average annual rainfall for the whole island is
195.8cm (77.1 inches). The Blue Mountain range and the northeast coast receive the highest annual
rainfall, the average being about 330 cm (130 inches). Jamaica lies in a hurricane zone; the hurricane
season lasts from June to November.
Jamaica also lies in a seismically-active part of the world. One of the main fault zones is the Enriquillo–
Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGFZ), which is a system of strike-slip faults which runs along the southern
side of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and through the Plantain Garden River region in Jamaica. This is
shown in the map below.
The EPGFZ has given rise to the following earthquakes:
 1692: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake destroyed most of Port Royal, in Jamaica.
 1751: An earthquake struck along the southern coast of Hispaniola.
 1770: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, in Haiti.
 1907: An earthquake damaged every building in Kingston, Jamaica.
 2010: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Other large earthquakes in 1618, 1673, 1684, 1761 and 1860 may also have been caused by the EPGFZ.
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Population
Jamaica’s population is estimated at 2,889,187. The population growth rate is 0.714%. Jamaica has been a
net exporter of people for decades, and currently has a net migration rate of -5.17 migrants per 100,000. As
a result, there is a large Diaspora of Jamaican origin, mainly in the USA, UK and Canada. This is a major
economic asset, as remittances are now the largest single source of foreign exchange. However, some
fraction of this flow of funds represents the proceeds of crime, because the Jamaican criminal networks are
also concentrated in the Diaspora communities.
About 52% of the population lives in urban areas, and the rate of urban migration is currently some 0.6%
per annum. Life expectancy is about 73.43 years (male 71.78, female 75.15).
The implications for energy policy
Jamaica’s relatively small physical size, small population and physical geography have a number of
implications for national energy policy.
 The population is below the margin generally considered viable for the separation of the ownership
and management of the grid from the ownership and management of the generating capacity. In
spite of that, Jamaica has made progress towards increasing the contribution of private generating
capacity. However, the grid remains a monopoly, and this has made it more difficult to move
towards a smart grid system, which could potentially allow more renewable sources to be
developed and connected.
 There are extensive limestone deposits in Jamaica. As limestone is porous, this terrain is not
suitable for the development of small-scale hydro plants.
 As noted earlier, Jamaica lies in a seismically-active part of the world. This creates additional risks
for the energy infrastructure. The post-disaster relief efforts in most Caribbean and Central
American countries are seriously handicapped by the lack of electricity in the critical disaster and
post-disaster periods and the consequent inability to operate lighting, chillers, refrigeration (for e.g.
medicines), pumps, communication networks and so on. This problem arises directly from the
centralized generation of electricity and the network of distribution systems. These systems,
especially the distribution poles and lines, are usually physically damaged during a hurricane or
similar disaster, and it takes time to bridge the broken sections. Some individual sites have standby
generators, but the majority of the population is vulnerable.
Social issues
Poverty
In 2009 it was estimated that about 16.9% of the population lived below the poverty line, up from 14.8% in
2003. Poverty in Jamaica overlaps with clusters of negative social and economic factors which can then
interlock and become mutually reinforcing. Many of the inhabitants in poor areas are trapped in the
informal economy or marginal, low-waged jobs by a lack of marketable qualifications and skills. Some of
these poor areas have high rates of electricity theft, which increases the cost of supplying service to those
areas and deters investmentvii.
HIV/AIDS
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About 1.7% of the adult population has HIV/AIDS. There are a number of social factors that increase the
rate of HIV transmission, including poverty, inadequate housing and over-crowding, early onset of sexual
activity, multiple partners, and constraints on access to family planning and sexual health clinics.
Unemployment
In 2011 the country had an estimated unemployment rate of 12.7%. There is a particular problem with
youth unemployment; about half of the total population aged 15-29 is not in the workforce. Many of these
people have no qualifications or formal skills, and are therefore effectively unemployable in the formal
economy. Of those aged 15-29 who are employed, many are in jobs that are unskilled or semi-skilled, pay
low wages, often require working irregular hours, with no career structure, no job security, and no housing,
medical, pension or other benefits.
Informal settlements
About 20% of the population of Jamaica lives in informal, unplanned settlements. Most of these are on
public land. A 2008 Rapid Assessment of Squatting undertaken by the Squatter Management Unit of the
Ministry of Water and Housing identified a total of 754 settlements. Most settlements are small, but a few
are large – the biggest comprise over 2,000 households. Some of these settlements were encouraged (or
tolerated) by politicians seeking to increase their majority.
The 2011 Population and Housing Census shows a 44% increase since 2001 in the number of households in
detached units on squatter settlements, up from 21,798 to 31,439 households, most of which are multioccupancy dwellingsviii.
Violence
Jamaica has one of the world’s highest per capita levels of violent crime. The UN Office on Drugs and
Crime’s 2011 Global Study on homicide reported that Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world,
with 82.1 homicides per 100,000 people. El Salvador is second (66/100,000), Côte d'Ivoire third
(56.9/100,000) and Jamaica fourth (52.1/100,000)3.Jamaica’s rate peaked at 1,680 homicides (62/100,000)
in 2009, when it was close to that of El Salvador, but it fell significantly after one of Jamaica’s most
powerful criminals, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, was extradited to the USA in June 2010 and his base, the
‘garrison’ community of Tivoli, was normalized.
Corruption
The Transparency International 2010 Corruption Perception Index gave Jamaica a score of 3.3, indicating a
perception of pervasive corruption. This can affect spending on infrastructure, as the examples below
illustrate:
 The 1993 and 1994 World Development Reports on Infrastructure and Development show that
Jamaica has a road density of 1,881km per million persons, the second highest road density
network in the world; but that only 10% of the road network was in good condition, one of the
lowest percentages in the world, which reflects chronic problems with bad construction and poor
maintenance, in part due to the practice of preferentially assigning government public works
contracts to politically-favoured contractors.
3
There is a controversy about the homicide data for Venezuela. The Government says that the homicide
rate is 48/100,000. However, independent estimates suggest that it reached 67/100,000 in 2011.
8


Some infrastructure (recent examples include a sports stadium and a bus station) is built even
though there is insufficient demand, and then remains largely unused, reflecting the way in which
spending can be influenced by short-term political goals.
About 80% of all major construction projects in Jamaica come via the government ix, so major
contractors understand the need to maintain good relations with the party in power. If a contractor
is awarded a large contract, he may be expected to take on additional labour from other
organizations that are affiliated to the party in power. This can take the form of providing site
'security', construction materials and casual labour, all of which come with an additional overhead.
These problems mean that public construction projects tend to be more expensive, less useful and of
poorer quality than in countries with lower levels of corruption.
The economic cost of crime
An estimate of the cost of crime to Jamaica by Francis et al. (2003) included health costs, the value of lost
production due to death and injury related to crime, and public and private expenditure on security. They
estimated that health costs were 0.4% of GDP, lost production was 0.2% of GDP, and expenditure on
security was 3.1% of GDP, giving a total of 3.7% of GDP. This estimate excluded the second-order and
indirect impacts of crime on businesses, which include shorter working hours and consequently reduced
worker productivity, undeclared losses to various forms of extortion, higher spending on security, increased
risk and consequently reduced access to borrowing, more expensive insurance and more costly capital.
Probably the most significant omission, however, at least in terms of economic cost, was the impact of
violent crime on people’s ability to save and willingness to invest, which translates directly into reduced
rates of capital accumulation, which then depresses future growth rates.
Ward et al (2009) estimated that the direct medical cost of injuries due to interpersonal violence accounted
for nearly 12% of Jamaica's total health expenditure in 2006, while productivity losses due to interpersonal
violence related injuries accounted for approximately 4% of Jamaica’s GDP. If the latter is added to the
estimate of security costs by Francis et al., then the combined total is 7.1% of Jamaica’s GDP.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the
World Bank report ‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean
(March 2007) also estimated the impact of crime on overall economic growth rates. A regression analysis
suggested that Jamaica’s economic growth rate would increase by 5.4% per annum if the homicide rate
could be brought down to that of Costa Rica.
If 1972 is taken as the baseline year, the accumulated cost of crime from 1972 to 2010 at 3.7% of GDP
would be US$8.7 billion, at 5.4% GDP it would be US$12.7 billion, and at 7.1% of GDP it would be US$16.7
billion. For comparison, Jamaica’s public debt at December 2011 was US$18.7 billion, so the accumulated
losses due to crime (at 7.1% of GDP) would equal 89% of that debt.
However, this estimate may still be too conservative, because it does not include the cumulative cost of
four decades of lost productivity growth. One way to estimate this loss is to compare Jamaica with
Barbados, a smaller country with few natural resources. The current National Security Policy for Jamaica (in
draft) notes that if Jamaica's rate of productivity growth had kept pace with that of Barbados, then Jamaica
today would be almost three times wealthier than it is now. Another way to estimate this loss is to project
forward from the rate of growth before Jamaica's descent into violence, when Jamaica's economic growth
rate collapsed from nearly 5% to just over 1%. If Jamaica had not lapsed into violence in the early 1970s,
and the growth rate of the 1960s had continued, then today the economy would be almost ten times larger
than it is now.
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This means that crime and corruption in Jamaica are the most significant long-term impediments to
economic development. They have deterred inward investment, destroyed capital formation and
discouraged business development.
Business surveys indicate that the other main impediments to competitiveness and economic development
are high energy costs, and the shortage of skilled labour.
Economy
Jamaica’s GDP was US$25.07 billion (at PPP) in 2011, which reflected modest, positive (1.5%) growth that
year. The economy is currently projected to shrink by 0.7% to 1.7% in 2012 x.
Jamaica is a small, open economy. The major sectors include tourism, mining (mainly bauxite, gypsum and
limestone), manufacturing, agriculture and financial and insurance services. The service sector now
accounts for nearly 65% of GDP. Tourism revenues account for 10% of GDP, and both arrivals and revenues
grew in 2010, up by 4% and 6% respectively.
Over the past two decades Jamaica has implemented a program of economic liberalization which covers
trade, exchange controls, the removal of subsidies and price controls. Some liberalization measures have
been applied to the energy sector, and more are being considered, including the removal of the electricity
supply monopoly from the Jamaica Public Service Company.
Jamaica has had little growth in GDP/capita for the last four decades, one of the poorest performances in
the world. This is an extraordinary outcome, because Jamaica's economy grew strongly for 23 years,
throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including the decade after Independence. The growth rate averaged 4.8%
per annum throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, it was the strongest economy in the Caribbean
region, and appeared set for sustained growth.
In the early 1970s, however, the political use of violence precipitated a wave of skill and capital flight, and
established the inter-penetration of politics and organized crime. The pattern of economic growth changed
dramatically from consistent strong growth to repeated recessions and weak growth. Since 1972/3, the
economy has grown at an average of just over 1%, just one-fifth of the previous rate. As a result, Jamaica
collapsed from being one of the strongest economies in the Caribbean to being one of the weakest.
Jamaica’s largest sources of foreign exchange (data from 2010 and 2011) are remittances (US$1.8 billion),
tourism (US$880 million), and mining and quarrying (US$135 million). The Lottery scam (a form of wire
fraud) is estimated to generate some US$300 million per annum, mainly from the USA. If this estimate is
correct, this means that fraud is now Jamaica’s third largest source of foreign exchange. As the Lottery
scam funds are usually imported via wire transfer, it is likely that the national income from remittances also
includes a significant contribution from fraud.
The economy has had periods of high inflation, although stronger measures were taken in recent years to
bring inflation under control.
Competitiveness
The 2010 World Economic Forum (WEF) Competitiveness Index showed that Jamaica had slipped 17 places
in three years and ranked 95th of the 132 nations surveyed, while on one measure - macroeconomic
stability - Jamaica sank to 129th. This decline accelerated during 2011-2012 as WEF rankings showed that
Jamaica fell by another 12 places in a year, to 107 of the 146 nations surveyed. This is not because Jamaica
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is disintegrating, but because other countries are forging ahead while Jamaica’s rate of economic
development has been exceptionally slow since 1972.
Debt
Jamaica is one of the most indebted countries in the world, and government expenditure commitments
regularly exceed annual revenues. Jamaica’s public debt at December 2011 was US$18.7 billion, while GDP
was US$14.7 billion (at f/x rate), so Jamaica’s debt was 127% of GDP.
The main causes of the public debt burden are:
 Government bailouts to failing sectors of the economy, in particular the financial sector in 1995-98.
 A narrow tax base.
 Excessive government spending, partly driven by political goals and patronage.
 A relatively large and inefficient public sector.
The government’s main item of expenditure is now debt servicing (this is mandated by the constitution).
This severely limits the government's ability to spend on infrastructure and social programs, which will be
increasingly politically difficult as unemployment is likely to rise as the economy shrank gain in 2012. It will
also be increasingly difficult to maintain fiscal discipline while also supporting the necessary increase in
spending on national security needed to reduce Jamaica’s exceptionally high rate of violent crime.
Policy responses
In early 2010, the Jamaican government created the Jamaica Debt Exchange in order to retire expensive
domestic bonds and significantly reduce annual debt servicing. This bought a period of relief, but this has
been largely expended, mainly because the government failed to use the opportunity to reform the public
sector. The government is now under increasing financial pressure again. The private sector acquiesced to a
second ‘haircut’ in 2013, but this may make it harder for the government to raise funds in money markets
in future.
The Government of Jamaica signed a $1.27 billion, 27-month Standby Agreement with the International
Monetary Fund for balance of payment support in February 2010. Other multilaterals have also provided
millions of dollars in loans and grants. Another IMF agreement is under negotiation at the time of writing.
Other donor and IDP support is largely contingent on the new IMF agreement.
1.2 ENERGY SITUATION
Energy supply
Jamaica’s energy mix remains heavily dependent on imported petroleum fuels which account for over 90%
of the energy mix, with the remainder derived from renewable sources (most of which is bagasse, fuelwood
and charcoal; the latter is one of the factors (along with farming and housing development) that contribute
to Jamaica’s deforestation rate of about 0.5% per annum, followed by coal, hydro, wind, ethanol and solar).
Although Jamaica does re-export some refined petroleum products, the quantity is not significant
compared to the volume of imports. Jamaica’s energy supply and economy therefore depend on oil
imports.
11
Petroleum importsxi
Volume (bbl)
Value (US$)
2007
29,930,149
2,007,801,340
2008
29,131,729
2,706,725,130
2009
22,233,607
1,363,235,541
2010
20,547,409
1,619,862,453
2011
21,214,652
2,242,229,601
Note that imports volumes fell dramatically in 2009, reflecting the impact of the recession and the closure
of some mining interests.
Electricity supply
The table below shows the Jamaica Public Service Company electricity generating supply statisticsxii.
Generation (MWh)
Source
Steam plants
Gas
turbine
plants
Hydro
JPS
net
generation
JPS purchases
from IPPs
Total
net
generation
2007
1,671,219
968,888
2008
1,701,220
1,016,117
2009
1,725,785
1,001,221
2010
1,673,386
968,752
2011
1,583,387
990,125
159,819
2,799,926
158,205
2,875,542
140,118
2,867,124
151,665
2,793,803
152,157
2,725,669
1,278,844
1,257,658
1,346,899
1,346,496
1,411,178
4,078,770
4,133,200
4,214,023
4,140,299
4,136,847
Note that the electricity generation pattern has remained broadly stable over the last five years, with a
slight contraction since 2009.
Generating plant
Jamaica has approximately 949MW of generation capacity, while base-load demand is slightly above
400MW. Most of the generating plants are relatively old, inefficient, and burn oil or diesel, which means
that they are expensive to operate. As a result, fuel currently represents about 60% of the total cost of
electricity. Modern plants, burning coal, petcoke, or natural gas, would have an all-in operating cost about
40% lower than the existing generating plants 4. The generation costs of these plants averages 26.0 US cents
in December 2012.
The grid
The Jamaica Public Service Company has 250,000 poles, 30,000 transformers, and 16,000 kilometres of
electrical lines throughout Jamaica. These transmission and distribution assets are valued at over J$20
billion, and the annual cost of maintaining the network is over J$3 billion. The cost of transporting
electricity across the grid is therefore significant, because it has to include the sunk capital and the
maintenance costs. These costs form part of the current non-fuel electricity tariff of 10.8 US cents per
kilowatt hour in December 2012.
4
The all-in cost includes the fuel cost, the operating cost, and the annualized cost of capital required to buy
new units.
12
By the third quarter of 2013, it is expected that new regulation will liberalize grid access for self-generators.
This follows the introduction of net billing regulation in 2011. Liberalizing grid access is seen as a means to
promote competition in generation and greater renewable energy penetration.
The supply from renewables
The Jamaica Public Service Company currently purchases 38.7MW of wind power from one independent
power producer, generates 21MW of hydropower, and recently commissioned a 3MW wind farm. They are
currently constructing an additional 6.3 MW of hydropower. The Office of Utilities regulation is managing
the procurement of an additional 115 MW of power from renewable sources; all technologies may
contend, but there is a preference for firm, cheap capacity.
Energy demand
Total energy consumption in Jamaica is dominated by just three activities; the bauxite/alumina industry
(although this depends on the world market for aluminium), electricity generation and transport (including
road, rail, shipping and aviation). The figure below shows the breakdown of energy consumption by activity
in 2008.
Energy Consumption by Activity (2008)
3% 2%
Bauxite / Alumina
30%
21%
Electricity Generation
Aviation
14%
Shipping
23%
7%
Road & Rail
Cooking & Lighting
Other
The table below shows petroleum consumption by activity, over the five year period 2007-2011.
Petroleum consumption by activity (bbl)xiii
Road & Rail
2007
6,079,884
2008
5,835,304
2009
6,402,737
13
2010
5,647,692
2011
6,012,476
Transportation
Shipping
Aviation
Cement manuf.
Electricity
generation
Bauxite/alumina
Sugar manuf.
Residential
Other manuf.
Other
Sub-total
Petroleum
refining
Grand total
3,972,826
1,931,222
28,477
6,654,238
2,805,615
1,598,706
26,004
6,274,571
2,221,514
1,660,579
12,638
6,661,735
1,868,525
1,899,930
5,139
6,578,349
1,634,809
1,878,787
11,698
6,529,445
8,807,899
61,491
912,116
198,995
80,332
28,730,231
362,947
9,392,039
43,764
931,853
136,634
73,584
27,118,074
355,076
3,493,973
57,046
883,418
104,947
99,334
21,597,921
309,666
2,884,978
15,045
950,861
52,969
115,324
20,018,811
268,039
3,752,927
15,464
987,844
97,373
82,279
21,003,103
195,700
29,093,178
27,473,150
21,907,587
20,286,850
21,198,803
Note that petroleum consumption in shipping, cement manufacture, bauxite/alumina, manufacturing,
sugar and petroleum refining all declined sharply over the period, reflecting the economic recession.
However, transport, aviation, electricity generation and residential consumption all remained at similar
levels, reflecting a relatively high level of non-discretionary expenditure and price inelasticity.
The breakdown of petroleum consumption by activity is summarised below.
Electricity demand
Jamaica has approximately 949MW of generation capacity. The base-load demand is approximately
400MW. The peak demand period for Jamaica is from 6-9 pm, which is the opposite from an industrial
nation; demand peaks when people go home from work (the demand for energy for cooking, air
conditioning and entertainment then rises). The evening peak-load is up to 640MW.
14
The table below shows the Jamaica Public Service Company electricity sales statisticsxiv.
Sales (MWh)
Category
Residential
(rate 10)
General service
(rate 20)
Power service
(rate 40)
Large
power
(rate 50)
Street
light
(rate 60)
Other
Total
2007
1,075,120
2008
1,032,181
2009
1,091,901
2010
1,106,955
2011
1,051,219
659,523
650,425
670,030
673,471
643,615
771,338
748,893
777,591
750,289
775,584
567,435
584,791
594,626
602,248
607,272
66,421
69,407
70,388
71,029
71,127
24,185
3,164,022
27,609
3,113,306
26,875
3,231,411
31,240
3,235,232
26,773
3,175,590
Note that the pattern of electricity sales has also remained broadly stable over the last five years.
Summary of key energy statistics






Electricity - production: 5.208 billion kWh (2009)
Electricity - consumption: 4.801 billion kWh (2009)5
Crude oil - imports: 23,780 bbl/day (2009)
Refined petroleum products - production: 22,790 bbl/day (2008)
Refined petroleum products - consumption: 78,520 bbl/day (2011)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy: 9.217 million Mt (2010)
Energy and economic development
The energy market
The energy market for is competitive and regulated by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). The Jamaica
Public Service Company does not have a monopoly on generation. It purchases over 200MW of power from
Independent Power Providers (IPPs).
The OUR policy is that all future expansion of generating capacity should be done on a least-cost basis,
which means that IPP contracts will specify that the IPP must supply the energy at an agreed delivery price.
The Jamaica Public Service Company will then have to pass on this generation cost to customers without
any mark-up. One recent IPP contract, for 65MW, was for modern, efficient medium-speed diesel units that
are about 15% more efficient than the current base-load stations.
Consumption and energy intensity
In most of the Caribbean nations (excluding Trinidad and Tobago), per capita consumption and energy
intensity have remained relatively stable over the last 10 years. For example, in 2001 the per capita
5
Note the high level of energy losses indicated by these numbers.
15
consumption of energy in Jamaica was 9.71 barrels of oil equivalent (boe)6 while in St Lucia it was 3.6 boe.
In 1975 the average per capita energy consumption was 8.4 boe. Energy conservation and efficiency
measures introduced after the oil shock of the 1970s contributed to a reduction of per capita consumption
to 6.9 boe by 1980. However, over the period 1987 to 2003 the per capita consumption of energy increased
from 5.6 to 10.31 boe. There was a rise in per capita energy consumption from 1,157 kilogram of oil
equivalent (Kgoe) (6.33 barrels) in 1990 to 1,406 Kgoe (10.12 barrels) in 2003 and a further deterioration in
energy intensity from 642 Kgoe/US$1,000 GDP to 734 Kgoe/US$1,000 GDP.
Jamaica has one of the highest energy intensity rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is in large
part due to the high energy use of the bauxite and alumina sector. In 1987, when both the bauxite and nonbauxite sectors are taken into consideration, it took 3.59 barrels of oil equivalent (boe), to generate US
$1,000 GDP, whilst in 2003 it took 5.89 boe or 65% more energy. The energy intensity without the bauxite
and alumina sector is approximately 30% lower.
Jamaica is also unusually inefficient in its use of energy. While most nations have become more energy
efficient over the last three decades, Jamaica’s energy intensity index (EII) has actually increased steadily
over the last two decades. Despite high oil prices (which peaked at US$147/barrel in July 2008) Jamaica’s
energy consumption has consistently grown faster than the economy. As a result, Jamaica now requires
21,152 BTU to produce US$1.00 of output, compared to a global average of 4,600 BTU.
Jamaica currently consumes about 56,000 barrels of oil per day. Over the past decade, the level of annual
oil imports fell slightly, from 23.6 million barrels in 1999 to about 22.9 million barrels in 2009, then to 20.2
million barrels in 2010, representing an overall average annual decline of 1% per annum, so it is probable
that it was the combination of low growth and recession that caused Jamaica’s EII to rise. Consumption
increased again in 2011 to 21.2 million barrels as the economy recovered slightly, but the economy is
projected to shrink again in 2012 so consumption is likely to be trending slightly down at present.
The high cost of energy has driven up electricity and transportation costs, which reduces Jamaica’s ability to
compete on international markets.
Price volatility
Jamaica’s heavy dependence on imported oil means that Jamaica is highly susceptible to periods of oil price
volatility, such as those experienced in 1973 and, more recently, from 1999 to 2008, when the price of
crude oil on the international market increased fifteen-fold from US$10/barrel to US$147/barrel. The cost
of Jamaica’s oil imports increased from US$344 million in 1998, exceeded US$1bn for the first time in
2004/5, rose to US$2.7 billion by 2008, and then fell back slightly to US$2.24 billion in 2011. The rapid
increase in the national expenditure on imported oil had serious implications for the balance of payments,
inflation, business competitiveness and household poverty. Unlike a number of other countries, however,
Jamaica has not taken the necessary steps to reduce its dependence on imported oil, although Jamaica is a
price-taker, and has suffered significant economic losses as a result of high energy costs.
This apparent lack of price sensitivity reflects, in part, the lack of awareness of alternatives. It also reflects
the fact that Jamaica has been partly shielded from market prices by the Petrocaribe agreement, which
allows Jamaica to purchase Venezuelan oil at market value, but for only 5%-50% as a down payment with a
grace period of one to two years; the remainder can be paid through a 17-25 year financing agreement
with 1% interest if oil prices are above US$40 per barrel. This means that Jamaica has now become heavily
dependent on Venezuela’s continuing good will. However, the Petrocaribe arrangement may not long
6
The barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) is the energy released by burning one barrel (which is 42 US gallons, or
158.9873 litres, or 138.8kg) of crude oil. This is approximately equal to 5.8 × 106 BTU, or about 5.4 GJ.
16
survive President Hugo Chavez, who is now believed to be gravely ill. The loss of this arrangement would
expose Jamaica to world market prices, with potentially serious consequences.
Energy strategy and relevant targets
The organization of the energy sector
The key players in the energy sector are as follows:
 The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM) has overarching responsibility for
the development of the energy sector in Jamaica. The Ministry’s Energy Division facilitates the
development of strategies, programmes and projects to ensure the successful implementation of
the National Energy Policy. The current focus is on the identification of new, renewable and
alternative energy sources and the promotion of energy conservation and efficiency.
 The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is the main implementing agency of the Ministry and
focuses on implementing the energy security and fuel diversification strategies and the costeffective availability of petroleum products. The PCJ has a range of functions and several subagencies that also play a role, including the Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy.
 The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPSCo) is the National Electric Grid Operator and, along
with several Independent Power Producers (IPPs), meets the electricity generation needs of the
country.
 The Office of Utilities Regulation is the regulatory authority for the sector.
The policy position
The current national energy policy, which is a component of the Vision 2030 National Development Plan,
sets targets for renewable energy and the percentage diversification of energy supply xv xvi xvii By 2030, 20%
of the country’s energy mix is to be derived from renewable sources 7, while LNG was to replace oil as the
main energy source (this element is now in doubt), and the national energy intensity index (in BTU/US$1
output), measured in constant year 2000 $US), is to be reduced from 21,152 BTU to 6,000 BTU per US$1.00
of output. However, that will still be higher than today’s global average of 4,600 BTU, and double the
projected global average of 3,000 BTU in 2030, so it will not resolve Jamaica’s problems with high fuel
costs, low productivity and lack of competitiveness.
The energy policy timetable
7
This target may soon be raised to 30%.
17
Diversification
Jamaica’s main national energy diversification policy commitment was to start replacing imports of oil with
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by 2015, so the withdrawal of the Government from active involvement in the
LNG project in October 2012 risks leaving the country without a coherent energy planxviii.
The LNG plan was highly controversial, with an inquiry reporting that the first of two tender processes was
“seriously flawed and (did) not rise to the level of a fair and transparent process required by the
Government of Jamaica's procurement guidelines and good industry practice.” xixThe Prime Minister
removed the responsibility for the LNG project from the Minister of Energy, who subsequently resigned xx xxi
xxii
.
The National Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 also calls for the development of an Energy Conservation and
Efficiency Policy to engage all sectors of the economy and everyone in Jamaica in a coordinated and
aggressive drive towards significantly reducing national energy consumption, and proposes some flagship
projects, including:
 An expansion of the Appliances Labelling and Testing Programme
 Stronger enforcement of Jamaica’s Building Code
 An Energy Efficiency Programme for street lighting
 An Energy Efficiency Programme for the Public Sector, focusing on building retrofits
 An Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project, focusing on policy and regulatory reform,
and institutional strengthening
 A revolving fund facility to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy in the private sector.
 An Energy Saving Compact Fluorescent Lamps Project.
18
The last item may, however, be tarnished by putative association with the Cuban light-bulb scandal8. The
problems with the LNG project and the Cuban light-bulb scandal suggest the extent to which weaknesses in
governance have undermined the development of a coherent energy strategy for Jamaica.
Other policy commitments
Other relevant policy commitments include:
 The National Development Plan and Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework 2009-2012
(MTF) (the version up to 2015 is still under review) , Section B of the National Priorities/Plans
section of the Vision 2030, Outcome 14: Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change,
and one key national outcome, energy security and efficiency.
 The national energy conservation and efficiency policy for 2008-2022, which was released by the
Ministry of Energy in 2008. This policy focuses on public and private sectors (households, industrial,
commercial, tourism) transport, codes and standards, renewable energy technology, the
institutional framework and human resource development.
 The new national building and energy efficiency codes provide mandatory standards for new
construction, as well as for the upgrading of existing buildings (although these are not always
enforced or followed). This is based on the energy efficiency building code that was developed by
the Jamaica Bureau of Standards in 1990, but was not promulgated or made mandatory. However,
this energy code was reviewed and updated by the Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE) and the
Jamaica Bureau of Standards before being promulgated and incorporated as a mandatory building
code. At present, the gazette notices for a number of proposed revisions to Jamaica’s building
codes have been submitted by the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BOSJ); these include the Jamaica
Application Document for the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The New Building Act
of 2012 made compliance with these codes mandatory. The Ministry of Science, Technology,
Energy, and Mining (MSTEM) has estimated that the codes will give a 40% improvement in energy
efficiency compared to current levels, which are relatively modest, and that this would give a total
of avoided CO2 emissions of some 23,780 tons by 2014 (taking 2009 as the baseline year), assuming
compliance (which is known to pose a challenge).
 The Jamaica Green Building Council (JGBC) is being established in accordance with the standards of
the World Green Building Council (WGBC) to monitor and guide government regulation as it relates
to development standards in Jamaica. The JGBC will promote the adaption and integration of
current standards such as the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) of the
International Code Council (ICC). The IgCC is the first model code that includes sustainability
measures for the entire construction project and its site, from design through construction,
certificate of occupancy and beyond. The new code is expected to make buildings more efficient,
reduce waste, and have a positive impact on health, safety and community welfare.
 At the Twenty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM), 8 – 9 March, 2012, in Paramaribo, Suriname, the Heads
approved the “Implementation Plan for the Regional Framework for Achieving Development
Resilient to Climate Change” which defines the Region’s strategic approach for coping with climate
change for the period 2011 – 2021.
 In a recent meeting hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) countries agreed to work together to ensure the region develops an
adequate renewable energy program. The eight CARICOM countries agreed in principle to work
together to complete a renewable energy assessment within the region. They pledged to “examine
8
Kern Spencer, a State Minister in the Ministry of Energy, was in charge of distributing four million energyefficient light-bulbs donated to Jamaica in 2006 by the Government of Cuba. Many of the light-bulbs went
missing, and the project incurred large debts. Kern Spencer was arrested in 2008, with three charges of
conspiracy to defraud, one charge for breaching the Prevention of Corruption Act, and three charges for
breaching the Money Laundering Act.
19
the possibilities of harmonising regulations and legislative framework for renewable energy, which
will allow all investors to invest within the region in complement, not competition”.
The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica has already taken a number of relevant initiatives over the last five
years, including:
 Energy audits in hospitals and schools.
 Energy audits of other public organizations, including the National Water Commission.
 Energy audits in a sample of hotels to encourage hotel owners to implement energy efficiency
measures.
 A public education programme on energy efficiency and conservation.
The Government of Jamaica recently launched a new energy efficiency project, called 'Developing an
Energy Services Company (ESCO) in Jamaica’. This will be jointly financed by the European Union and the
Government of Jamaica at a cost of J$66 million.
20
Section 2: Current situation with regard to SE4ALL goals
2.1 Energy access
Energy access
There is a high level of access to energy in Jamaica. This is the result of initiatives such as the Rural
Electrification Programme, which has responsibility for providing electricity to non-urban areas. Under the
REP, 7,000 km of low voltage distribution lines were constructed and approximately 70,000 rural homes
electrified. Well over 90% of all households in Jamaica now have access to electricity. In March 2012, this
programme commenced a reorientation from rural electrification to focus on providing cost-effective and
affordable energy, including renewable energy, to the remaining 5% of Jamaican households that still do
not have an electricity supply, most of which are ruralxxiii.
Lighting (by household)xxiv
Number of Households by Source of Lighting
Total Surveyed
881,078
Electricity
805,299
Kerosene
48,629
Other
7,515
Not Reported
19,635
100%
91%
6%
1%
2%
Note that solar or other renewable sources of power were not reported, and that ‘Not Reported’ often
means that household has no source of lighting.
Energy for thermal applications (cooking, heating)xxv
Numbers of Household by Type of Fuel used for Cooking
Total Surveyed
881,078
LPG
705,234
Electricity
15,803
Wood
78,700
Charcoal
53,876
Kerosene
739
Biogas
94
Solar
25
Other
287
No Cooking
13,178
Not Reported
13,141
100%
80%
2%
9%
6%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.5%
1.5%
Note that ‘No Cooking’ means little or no cooking is undertaken in the household.
Energy affordability
The issue is therefore not access per se, but affordability. There has been relatively little progress towards
bringing the price of electricity in Jamaica down closer to the regional average, although there have been
many initiatives in the past to develop better energy policies in Jamaica, including the promotion of
diversification, the development of renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency, but these
have failed to deliver any substantial improvements. There are a number of factors that have effectively
21
impeded progress, including problems with governance and policy conflicts, misguided technology choices,
market failures, and unhelpful institutional structures. Similar problems can be seen in many other
developing countries.
Specific problems in Jamaica include an inefficient public electricity system, with old generating plant;
inefficient use of energy in manufacturing and other productive sectors; inefficient energy use in the public
sector, including the extensive use of pumps (rather than gravity feed) to deliver the nation’s water supply;
low public awareness of the importance of energy conservation; and an inadequate policy framework to
promote energy conservation and efficiency.
Another barrier includes the JPSCo’s Amended and Restated All Island Electricity License (2011), which
gives the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd. exclusive rights to transmit, distribute and supply electricity
throughout Jamaica, for a twenty year period. Prices are controlled by the Office of Utilities Regulation, but
the monopoly gives JPSCo an incentive to protect its sunk capital investment in old generating plant by
paying low rates to new suppliers, thereby inhibiting the development of renewable sources, while the
monopoly structure and the license also makes it hard for IPPs to bid on contracts, since JPS is
simultaneously the only purchaser and a competitor. In addition, pricing structure is ‘pass through’;
increases in the price of oil are passed through directly to the consumer, which means that there is no
economic pressure on the company to improve efficiency.
However, the Government has taken the decision to privatize and liberalize the electricity sector, and as a
first step, all new generating capacity is being developed by the private sector, with independent power
producers (IPPs) who generate electricity for their own use (self-producers) and/or for sale to the national
grid. While JPSCo retains a monopoly on the transmission and distribution of electricity, independent
power providers now account for over 25% of electricity generation capacity. In 2011, total generating
capacity in Jamaica was approximately 949megawatts (MW), which included 312 MW capacity provided by
IPPs, with an average peak demand of approximately 640 MW.
2.2 Energy efficiency
As noted earlier, Jamaica has one of the highest energy intensity rates in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is in large part due to the high energy use of the bauxite and alumina sector. In 1987, when both the
bauxite and non-bauxite sectors are taken into consideration, it took 3.59 barrels of oil equivalent (boe), to
generate US $1,000 GDP, whilst in 2003 it took 5.89 boe or 65% more energy. The energy intensity without
the bauxite and alumina sector is approximately 30% lower.
Jamaica is also unusually inefficient in its use of energy. While most nations have become more energy
efficient over the last three decades, Jamaica’s energy intensity index (EII) has actually increased steadily
over the last two decades. Despite high oil prices (which peaked at US$147/barrel in July 2008) Jamaica’s
energy consumption has consistently grown faster than the economy. As a result, Jamaica now requires
21,152 BTU to produce US$1.00 of output, compared to a global average of 4,600 BTU.
There are a number of reasons why Jamaica’s energy efficiency has fallen, including:
 The high rate of crime (noted earlier) encourages the use of private vehicles, rather than public
transport, as they are perceived to be more secure.
 The poor state of the roads (noted earlier) encourages the use of heavier vehicles.
 Successive administrations have maintained relatively low tax rates on gasoline.
 Planning and zoning controls are weak, and often over-ridden, while building standards are over-due
for modernization. As a result:
Very few buildings in Jamaica make use of passive solar design or active solar technologies, in spite of
a favourable solar regime.
22
Much of the building stock is constructed with steel and uninsulated concrete, and has a high thermal
mass. This requires the use of air conditioning and fans in order to maintain comfortable living and
working conditions.
 Many of the energy-efficient bulbs available in Jamaica are relatively expensive, but appear to be of
inferior quality, with short life-spans, possibly due to poor quality control of imports, exacerbated
by voltage fluctuations that can rapidly burn out bulbs
2.3 Renewable energy
Increasing the contribution of renewables
The table below shows the main non-oil sources of energy in Jamaica, and the trends over the five years
2007 – 2011.
Total non-oil energy consumptionxxvi
Source
Hydropower
Wind
Coal
Charcoal
Bagasse
Fuelwood
Total
Units (000)
MWh
BoE
MWh
BoE
Tonnes
BoE
BoE
BoE
BoE
BoE
2007
160
99
52
32
36
176
n/a
591
n/a
898
2008
158
98
49
31
48
233
n/a
508
n/a
870
2009
140
87
59
36
63
316
n/a
402
n/a
841
2010
152
94
53
33
54
271
n/a
418
n/a
816
2011
152
94
91
57
65
327
n/a
579
n/a
1,057
Note that non-oil energy consumption was larger in 2011 than in 2007, but all this growth occurred in the
last year alone, and resulted from increases in just two sources; mostly coal with some contribution from
wind. The data is represented graphically below.
23
Barriers to progress
A 2005 report - “The Renewable Energies Potential in Jamaica” - identified a number of barriers to the
expansion of renewable energy use in Jamaica. These were as follows:
Time-consuming administrative procedures related to RE project development.
Lack of economically viable contractual arrangements.
Inadequate financial and fiscal incentives, e.g. a lack of relevant duty or GCT exemptions or property
tax rebates. By contrast, the development of wind turbines in Denmark and solar cells in Germany was
encouraged with direct tax offsets.
Lack of dedicated grants or soft loans for relevant research, development and exploration.
Public generation and grid system losses, which include both technical losses (conversion
inefficiencies) and non-technical losses (theft), which currently exceed the total energy produced by
renewable energy providers, effectively raising the price of electricity (from all sources) to paying
consumers (this is probably a disincentive to all new investors, rather than RE per se).
Lack of penalties for not meeting renewable energy targets in the National Energy Policy.
Lack of building code enforcement for items such as solar water heaters.
Lack of uniform net-metering and interconnection standards for small-scale power generation units
such as solar photovoltaic systems (this has been addressed to some extent, but the process remains
cumbersome).
The policy response
It is therefore clear that past efforts to increase energy conservation and improve efficiency have not been
sufficiently coherent or sustained. The 2010 National Renewable Energy Policy was therefore designed to
overcome these barriers and create an enabling framework for the development of the sector and for the
deployment of RE technologies by establishing an appropriate institutional framework, raising public
awareness and enabling the provision of financing. There also are three pieces of legislation that are
currently facilitating the development of the RE sector. These are:
 Petroleum (Quality Control) Act,
 Caribbean Basin Initiative and
 Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
24
This combination was intended to provide the context for a range of projects that were expected to enable
the country to reduce petroleum imports by about 10% by the end of 2011. This target was not met. There
was, however, a modest increase in the percentage of renewable sources in the energy mix, which rose
from 6% in 2008 to 9% in 2009. This was due primarily to the roll-out of E10 for use in motor vehicles,
which was partly intended to reduce Jamaica’s dependence on imported oil, although consumer uptake
was inhibited by the fall in the price of gasoline in the second half of 2008, which made the ethanol blend
more expensive than regular gasoline.
The Sector Plan for Energy was completed in 2009 and is one of the strategic priority areas of the Vision
2030 Jamaica - National Development Plan. It is one of thirty-one sector plans that form the foundation for
Vision 2030 Jamaica – a 21-year plan with the overall goal of making ‘Jamaica the place of choice to live,
work, raise families, and do business,’. The main intention of the Energy Sector Plan is that Jamaica should
reduce its dependence on imported petroleum, and create a modern, efficient, diversified and
environmentally-sustainable energy sector. The targets for the sector are that it should provide affordable
and accessible energy supplies with long-term energy security; contribute to international competitiveness
throughout the productive sectors of the economy; and improve the quality of life for citizens. The vision
statement of Jamaica’s National Energy Sector is: “A modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally
sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies with long-term energy
security and supported by informed public behaviour on energy issues and an appropriate policy,
regulatory and institutional framework”
The National Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 consists of six draft sub-sector policies:
I.
National Renewable Energy Policy
II.
National Energy-from-Waste Policy
III. National Biofuels Policy
IV. National Carbon Emissions and Trading Policy
V.
National Energy Conservation and Efficiency Policy
VI. Electricity Policy
Jamaica’s National Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 calls for Jamaica to develop its renewable energy sources and
enhance its international competitiveness and energy security while simultaneously reducing its carbon
footprint. The National Policy sets phased targets for the development of renewable energy, which is to
reach 20% of total energy supply by 2030. One of the main purposes of setting these national targets is to
encourage investment and relevant research.
The strategic framework presented in the National Energy Policy is comprehensive and expected to remain
serviceable until 2030. The Framework outlines the priorities in seven key areas:
1. Security of Energy Supply (diversification of fuels and developments of renewables)
2. Modernization of country’s energy infrastructure.
3. Developments of renewable energy resources e.g. solar, wind and hydro.
4. Energy conservation and efficiency
5. Development of a comprehensive regulatory framework
6. Enabling all Government agencies and ministries to be a model for the rest of society in terms of
energy management.
7. Eco efficiency in industries.
Renewable energy projects in Jamaica
The National Renewable Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 lists a number of renewable energy projects that are
currently in the pipeline and are expected to come on stream in 2012/2013. These include:
25
 Energy from Waste: Jamaica generates approximately 1.3 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) island-wide annually. This waste can be converted to useable energy through the use of
waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion technologies. The PCJ negotiated with an investor to develop
two WTE plants at Riverton in Kingston to produce 45 MW and at Retirement in Montego Bay to
produce 20 MW, but these negotiations were not successful. Biodiesel: Jamaica has the potential to
produce and use biodiesel made from feedstocks such as waste vegetable oil (WVO) or indigenous
crops such as Castor and Jatropha. The PCJ has commenced a small pilot project on biodiesel which
will help to inform policy.
The other main RE sources are as follows:
• Wind: The Wigton Wind Farm in the Parish of Manchester, operated by the Petroleum Corporation of
Jamaica (PCJ). This was commissioned in May 2004, consists of 23 wind turbines with a total
capacity of 20.7 MW. Wigton expanded in 2008 with an additional 18MW. Wigton generates an
average of 12MW.
• Bagasse: There is cogeneration with electricity production at sugar factories; however, they produce
only for their own consumption.
• Processing waste: There is a cogeneration plant at the Jamaica Broiler chicken factory, using waste.
• Biomass: There is a fuel wood plant at the PCJ’s Font Hill Farm
• There are 8 operable Hydropower Plants, with a total capacity of 23 MW, operated by the Jamaica
Public Service Company (JPS).
• There is now a 10% ethanol/gasoline blend available at most filling stations.
In 2006, the Government established a Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy (CERE), now renamed
the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Division, a division within the Petroleum Corporation of
Jamaica (PCJ). CERE’s mission is to ensure that Jamaica remains abreast of developments in renewable
energy, and can implement them as and when possible. More specifically, CERE’s mission is to enhance the
contribution of renewables to the energy mix by:
• Bringing focus to the development and diversification of renewable energy sources and technologies;
• Researching, educating, demonstrating new technologies and methods and collaborating with various
energy stakeholders, local and foreign investors and environmental stewards; and
• Meeting the energy policy goal of 15% renewables in the energy supply mix by 2020, 20% by 2030.
Barriers to renewables
In 2008, the Office of Utilities Regulation put 60MW of renewable energy supply out to tender. The uptake
was low. Just 10MW of IPP contracts were awarded, and the Jamaica Public Service Company was the only
successful candidate. This suggested that renewables were not yet seen as commercially feasible by
investors. Part of the problem is that renewable energy projects have to be on a relatively large scale (i.e. at
least 2 -5MWs) in order to get economies of scale. Another problem is that renewables are intermittent,
and Jamaica’s power demand peaks at 6-9pm, when the supply from wind and photovoltaics is usually low.
There is little capacity to store power in Jamaica, which means that the electrical network has to be
primarily configured to meet peak demand. Most renewable sources, being intermittent, use the grid as a
backup, and so cannot replace the base-load stations. This means that a period of support is likely to be
required if renewables are to be developed in Jamaica.
Supported energy projects
The externally-supported energy projects in Jamaica include:
 The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program, which is supported by the IDBxxvii. The goal is to
install highly-efficient and energy conserving equipment to public sector buildings, thereby
reducing the Government’s expenditure on energy.
26
 The Kingston Metropolitan Area Water Supply Improvement Programme, which is also supported by
the IDBxxviii. The goal is to improve the quality of water and wastewater services provided to the
Kingston Metropolitan Area and selected urban areas and to increase the efficiency and
sustainability of the National Water Commission, the public water utility provider. This program
includes improving energy efficiency.
 The Capacity Development for Energy Efficiency and Security in Jamaica project, which is supported
by the UNDPxxix. The objectives of this project are to increase the national capacity for energy
efficiency and energy conservation within the public sector, by highlighting the importance of
monitoring and maintenance to achieve sustainable savings and the teaching of new performance
contract concepts which should result in a decrease in public sector energy usage and costs; to
provide technical assistance for small scale renewable sources of energy through the preparation of
a wind map and a feasibility study for small scale applications, as well as the construction of small
scale wind turbines; and to establish a platform for dialogue between the public sector and the
private sector to ensure information sharing from both sides and targeting resolutions for relevant
significant issues faced by the private sector.
 The Jamaica Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project, which is supported by the World
Bankxxx and the Development Bank of Jamaicaxxxi. The objective is to increase energy efficiency and
security through the implementation of Jamaica’s national energy policy. There are three
components. The first component involves strengthening the regulatory and institutional
framework to improve sector performance, increase private investment and transition to cleaner
fuels, the second component of the project involves energy efficiency and renewable energy
potential, and the third component of the project is project management, monitoring and
evaluation.
A summary of the current renewable energy research projects in Jamaica is given below.
27
Summary of current renewable energy research projects in Jamaicaxxxii
Key: Biomass/BiofuelsSolar WindHydroelectricity
Project
Description
Biomass
resource
assessment (fuel
wood)
Researchers are trying to
quantify the usage of fuel wood
and charcoal, which are thought
form the greatest single portion
of Jamaica’s renewable energy
usage. Researchers are also
assessing the future market for
such fuels
Small Scale
Biodiesel Pilot
Project
Research
Partnership
Agreement
between CARDI
/ PCJ
Implementing
Agency
Centre of
Excellence in
Sustainable
Energy
Developments
(CESED), a
division of the
Petroleum
Corporation of
Jamaica (PCJ),
Researchers are determining the Ministry of
agricultural parameters for the
Agriculture and
production of oil crops (castor
Fisheries
and jatropha), and the process
(MoAF), PCJ /
parameters for the conversion of CESED.
these oils into biodiesel. The
fuel produced is being tested in
diesel engines.
Researchers are determining the Caribbean
agricultural parameters for the
Agricultural
growth of biomass and oilseeds Research and
on marginal land / mined-out
Development
bauxite land.
Institute / PCJ
Launch
date
Status
Funding
organization
April
2012
Study complete
and to be
finalised by
September 2012
PCJ
Project
budget,
USD
60,000
September Ongoing until
2010
2014
PCJ
73,000
2010
PCJ
54,000
Ongoing
Project
Solar market
survey
Description
Researchers are quantifying the
total installed capacity of solar
energy (thermal and
photovoltaic), and assessing the
market (supply and demand
side) to estimate the total
potential for solar deployment
in Jamaica
Feasibility study A feasibility study for a 1 MW
for 1MW solar
solar photovoltaic plant in St.
power plant
Catherine.
Researchers are additonally
creating a limited solar map.
The Application Researchers will test solarof Solarpowered PEM equipment to
Powered
determine hydrogen production
Polymer
under local conditions.
Electrolyte
Subsequently, engineering
Membrane
research will be done to
(PEM)
determine the design
Electrolysers for considerations and necessary
the Sustainable
retrofits needed for the use of
Production of
hydrogen gas for cooking
Hydrogen Gas as purposes.
Fuel for
Domestic
Cooking
Implementing
Agency
Launch
date
Status
Funding
organization
CESED
Q2 2013
Not yet
launched.
PCJ
CESED,
Worldwatch
Institute
2010
Ongoing.
PCJ, German 372,000
Ministry of
Environment
UTECH
Q3 2012
Ongoing
EuropeAid
(EU) – 85%
UTech –
15%
29
Project
budget,
USD
In
negotiation
495,000
Project
Description
Implementing
Agency
Launch
date
Status
Funding
organization
Wind Resource
Mapping
Researchers are measuring wind
data at 22 sites island-wide over
2 years and interpolating the
data to produce and all-island
wind resource map. The end
result will be a model that will
estimate wind speeds at any
point on the island. Data
analysis also includes power
output forecasting
This study will collect data on
wind power sites in St.
Elizabeth in the first phase. In
the second phase, a wind power
facility for irrigation will be
designed.
University of the
West Indies
(UWI), Wigton
Wind Farm Ltd.
October
2011
Ongoing until
June 2013
InterAmerican
Development
Bank (75%),
PCJ (20%),
UWI (5%)
National
Irrigation
Commission
(NIC)
Q3 2013
Not yet launched
Building on work done in the
1980s and previously, research
engineers will determine the
feasibility of hydroelectric
plants at 5 undeveloped sites.
The goal is to update and
package pertinent hydrologic al
data to create “investment
ready” data sets.
CESED
Q2 2013
Not yet launched
Energy and
Climate
Partnership
of the
Americas ,
through the
Organization
of American
States(68%)
World Bank
Utilizing wind
power of the
irrigation of
farm land in St.
Elizabeth
Hydro Feasibilty
Studies
30
Project
budget,
USD
1,000,000
168,000
2,760,000
Section 3: Challenges and opportunities for achieving SE4ALL goals
The global context
It is important to note that the current SE4LL goals are based on assumptions that may be challenged in the
near future, i.e. within the 2030 SE4ALL timeframe. For example, one SE4ALL goal is to ensure universal
access to modern energy services. Given the projected increases in world population and rate of
industrialization, and the associated demand for energy, there are clear grounds for concern about the
future availability and affordability of energy.
As noted earlier, current International Energy Agency (IEA) projections indicate that world energy
consumption will grow by about 50% by 2030, from 495 quadrillion BTU (QBTU) to 739 QBTU , with
developing countries creating about 75% of that increased demand. If this demand continues to be met
predominantly from hydrocarbons, demand for oil will increase by almost 40% and coal by almost 75% over
the same period. This will make it impossible to meet carbon reduction targets, resolve the problems of
climate change and meet national needs for energy security without very significant improvements in
energy efficiency and productivity.
However, there are currently a number of important trends, some of which conflict, so it is difficult to
identify the most likely future outcome. For example:
 Recent research by Citigroup and BP suggests that Saudi Arabia could become a net oil importer by
2030, indicating that oil could become increasingly scarce and expensivexxxiii.
 However, the decline of the mature fields will be offset by the development of technologies for the
recovery of unconventional oil and gas (e.g. shale gas fracking technology, mining of tar sands),
which will significantly increase recoverable oil and gas reserves, particularly in the USA, which
could become the world's biggest supplier of oil and gas by 2020 as a result. This could lead to a
period of low gas and oil prices as fracking technology is more widely deployed, which could reduce
the flow of investment into both energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies,
thus creating a more serious problem when the main recoverable reserves are drawn down in their
turn. The development of fracking technology will certainly postpone the point of peak oil, but it
may also make it significantly more difficult for the world to achieve a low-carbon growth path.
 There are a number of areas of significant technological progress, some of which may lead to
radical, ‘disruptive’ solutions that would transform energy markets and prospects. These include,
for example, third and fourth-generation biofuels from genetically-modified algae and synthetic
genomicsxxxiv,xxxv, which may lead to a completely carbon-neutral synthetic gasoline, the Air Fuel
Synthesis technologyxxxvi, which converts atmospheric carbon and water into liquid hydrocarbon
fuels, potentially allowing synthetic gasoline to be extracted from the air, paint containing organic
light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which could reduce the energy needed for lighting by over 90% xxxvii,
driverless cars, which would weigh much less and so would be far more fuel efficient 9xxxviii and so
on. Some of these solutions are already near-market, and may eventually solve the world’s energy
problems.
 Even modest, incremental advances in key areas would be very effective over time, and some
solutions are readily available, provided that the institutional and marker barriers can be overcome.
For example – as noted earlier - buildings are responsible for some 30-40% of global energy
demand. This includes the energy required in the mining, manufacturing, transport and assembly of
building materials, and the final demolition and recycling of structures, but the greatest demand is
generated in the use and operation of the building. As a result, buildings are – in most countries –
9
Much of the weight of a vehicle is associated with the need to protect the occupants. Driverless
the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions. Building-related emissions were estimated at
8.6 billion tons in 2004, and this is projected to double by 2030. The residential sector alone (i.e.
not including offices, industrial and public buildings) accounts for 25% of total end-use demand,
and 19% of global GHG emissions. However, currently available technologies could reduce energy
consumption in buildings by 30-50% without significantly increasing investment costs, and even
modest improvements in building efficiency could reduce world end-use demand for energy by 32
quadrillion BTU ( QBTU) by 2020xxxix.
Even in the medium term – i.e. within the 2030 SE4ALL timeframe - there are signs that world energy
markets could be about to undergo significant changes. For example, the advent of cheap shale gas is
already affecting oil and gas markets, which has profound implications for both energy costs and
geopoliticsxlxli. If there is going to be a period of falling oil and gas prices, the economic case for investing in
renewables will become much weaker.
A second driver for SE4ALL change – the policy route – is also looking less tenable, largely due to the
perceived lack of progress with the UN track. The USA is now considering bypassing the UNFCCC route and
using the Major Economies Forum instead, on the grounds that the members of that group currently
generate some 85% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while the group is also much smaller 10, which will
make it easier to reach a consensus xlii. If this happens, however, it would mean that the Caribbean nations
would have no access to the key climate change negotiations forum.
With regard to the third driver for change – climate change and associated environmental impacts –the
acute financial problems in a number of the Caribbean nations makes it much harder to make the case for
long-term strategic investment in new energy infrastructure, as extremely constrained budgets almost
invariably lead to the lowest-cost choices (at least in the short term)
3.1 Institutional and policy framework
As noted earlier, it is therefore clear that past efforts to increase energy conservation and improve
efficiency have not been sufficiently coherent or sustained. The 2010 Draft National Renewable Energy
Policy was designed to overcome these barriers and create an enabling framework for the development of
the sector and for the deployment of RE technologies by establishing an appropriate institutional
framework, raising public awareness and enabling the provision of financing.
The Sector Plan for Energy was completed in 2009 and is one of the strategic priority areas of the Vision
2030 Jamaica - National Development Plan. It is one of thirty-one sector plans that form the foundation for
Vision 2030 Jamaica – a 21-year plan with the overall goal of making ‘Jamaica the place of choice to live,
work, raise families, and do business,’. The main intention of the Energy Sector Plan is that Jamaica should
reduce its dependence on imported petroleum, and create a modern, efficient, diversified and
environmentally-sustainable energy sector. The targets for the sector are that it should provide affordable
and accessible energy supplies with long-term energy security; contribute to international competitiveness
throughout the productive sectors of the economy; and improve the quality of life for citizens. The vision
statement of Jamaica’s National Energy Sector is: “A modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally
sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies with long-term energy
security and supported by informed public behaviour on energy issues and an appropriate policy,
regulatory and institutional framework”
The National Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 consists of six sub-sector policies:
I.
National Renewable Energy Policy
II.
National Energy-from-Waste Policy
10
The Major Economies Forum includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the
United States.
32
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
National Biofuels Policy
Carbon Emissions and Training Policy
National Energy Conservation and Efficiency Policy
Electricity Policy
Jamaica’s National Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 calls for Jamaica to develop its renewable energy sources and
enhance its international competitiveness and energy security while simultaneously reducing its carbon
footprint. The National Policy sets phased targets for the development of renewable energy, which is to
reach 20% of total energy supply by 2030. One of the main purposes of setting these national targets is to
encourage investment and relevant research.
The strategic framework presented in the National Energy Policy is comprehensive and expected to remain
serviceable until 2030. The Framework outlines the priorities in seven key areas:
1. Security of Energy Supply (diversification of fuels and developments of Renewables)
2. Modernization of country’s energy infrastructure.
3. Developments of renewable energy resources e.g. solar, wind and hydro.
4. Energy conservation and efficiency
5. Development of a comprehensive regulatory framework
6. Enabling all Government agencies and ministries to be model for the rest of the Society in terms of
energy management.
7. Eco efficiency in industries.
SE4ALL monitoring
Successive administrations in Jamaica have been primarily focused on securing a reliable and affordable
fuel source for the nation. The electrification program has largely completed. More recently, there have
been various measures to encourage the development of renewables. However, the most serious gap at
present is the low level of energy efficiency and productivity in Jamaica. It is therefore recommended that
this should be the primary focus of the SE4ALL program in Jamaica.
3.2 Programs and financing
As noted earlier, the National Renewable Energy Policy 2009 – 2030 lists a number of renewable energy
projects that are currently in the pipeline and are expected to come on stream in 2012-2013. These include:
 Energy from Waste: Jamaica generates approximately 1.3 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) island-wide annually. This waste can be converted to useable energy through the use of
waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion technologies. The PCJ is currently in negotiations with an
investor to develop two WTE plants at Riverton in Kingston to produce 45 MW and at Retirement in
Montego Bay to produce 20 MW.
 Biodiesel: Jamaica has the potential to produce and use biodiesel made from feedstocks such as
waste vegetable oil (WVO) or indigenous crops such as castor and jatropha. The PCJ has
commenced a small pilot project on biodiesel which will help to inform policy.
The other main RE sources are as follows:
• Wind: The Wigton Wind Farm in the Parish of Manchester, operated by the Petroleum Corporation of
Jamaica (PCJ). This was commissioned in May 2004, consists of 23 wind turbines with a total
capacity of 20.7 MW. Wigton expandd in 2008 with an additional 18MW. Wigton generates an
average of 12MW.
• Bagasse: There is cogeneration with electricity production at sugar factories; however, they produce
only for their own consumption.
• Processing waste: There is a cogeneration plant at the Jamaica Broiler chicken factory, using waste.
• Biomass: There is a fuel wood plant at the PCJ’s Font Hill Farm
• There are 8 operable Hydropower Plants, with a total capacity of 23 MW, operated by the Jamaica
Public Service Company (JPS).
33
• There is now a 10% ethanol/gasoline blend available at most filling stations.
3.3 Private investment and enabling business environment
The Government of Jamaica is committed to increasing both domestic and foreign investment. The main
initiatives implemented to date are aimed at reducing deficiencies in infrastructure services, particularly
with respect to water supply, sewage treatment facilities and the transport network, and to increase the
use of renewable energy.
Infrastructure development requires an estimated amount of US$600 million in the energy sector and US$1
billion in the water sector over the next fifteen years, and the Government is actively encouraging the
participation of the private sector.
In 2001, the Jamaica Public Service Co. (JPSCo.), the country’s electricity company, was privatized. The
Government also planned to establish a new licensing regime which will remove the power of granting
licenses for water and sewerage projects from the National Water Commission (NWC). The long-term
objective of the Government is to give the private sector a legitimate role in the water and power sectors
with the appropriate regulatory controls to ensure high quality service and fair tariffs.
Over the last decade, Jamaica has implemented a major privatization program under which several public
sector entities have been divested, though some 150 enterprises remain in the public sector. The
Government is also implementing a regulatory framework providing investor confidence, ensuring
competition, and protecting consumer interests. For example, the Government signed an agreement subcontracting all the responsibilities in respect of management, operation, maintenance and development of
the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to Vancouver Airport Services for a period of thirty
years. This could offer a model for the development of the RE sector in Jamaica, although this might require
the separation of the grid from the generating companies and the development of an appropriate tariff
structure.
Net metering
Net metering would allow more renewable supplies to be connected to the grid. However, there are some
technical challenges. First, the supplies are typically intermittent, which makes it harder to balance supply
and demand, and maintain safety and reliability (especially if many of the new suppliers are also operating
on a small scale). Second, the tariff paid to the suppliers would have to be less than the tariff charged by
the Jamaica Public Service Company to the customer, as the Jamaica Public Service Company also has to
bear the cost of maintaining the grid. However, more distributed generation would reduce overall load
flows and losses, therefore reducing the cost of operating the grid, so those savings could be offset against
the costs.
3.4 Gaps and barriers
To achieve Jamaica’s national energy goals, it is important to develop public support and political
awareness of the importance of simultaneously lowering the energy intensity of human activity and
expanding renewable sources for the production of energy. Jamaica, in common with all countries, needs
consistent and coherent national energy policies that take into account local opportunities and constraints
as well as the relatively volatile conditions and serious uncertainties in global energy markets.
This must be a long-term, sustained effort, because the energy sector is characterized by its long lead times
and the high costs of policy mistakes. Investments in energy infrastructure are typically amortized over
three decades or more. This means that the sector tends to be conservative, with a high level of inertia, as
there are usually long lags before new solutions can be implemented. Governments therefore have to
34
make energy efficiency and renewable energy a high priority, and they must remain consistent in this
regard for many years so that they give the energy sector clear signals as to the way forward.
Jamaica’s energy sector also has to develop the increased flexibility and capacity needed to adopt new
technologies that support its policy goals. The increase in oil prices has stimulated technological advances
in developing alternative energy sources, improving efficiency in energy production and consumption, and
in other areas, but it is equally important to ensure that the market is able to absorb these solutions. The
Caribbean has solar, ocean current and wind energy potential, and renewable energy resources for Jamaica
include hydropower, wind, solar energy, and bio-fuels such as ethanol, bio-diesel, bagasse, fuelwood and
biogas. Emerging technologies which could become relevant to the development of the energy sector in
Jamaica over the planning timeframe to 2030 include energy storage technologies (including fuel cells),
third and fourth-generation bio-fuels, and efficient solid state thermoelectric converters for solar energy. It
is also important to allow for disruptive technological innovations, which could rapidly alter the market for
energy production, distribution and use.
The ideal solution for a small island nation, such as Jamaica, may be one of the technologies that is
currently in development, rather than one of the currently-available mature technologies. However, no
government can take the risk of a gap with insufficient energy supply.
The most rational solution for dealing with such significant uncertainties is to adopt a ‘no-regrets’ strategy
to reduce the risk of investing in the wrong technology, for example, then having to write-off investments
and incur significant opportunity costs. This means that it is more important to focus on increasing energy
efficiency and productivity than it is to develop new renewable energy sources, as current energy efficiency
standards in most Caribbean nations are so low that there is ample scope to improve efficiency and reduce
waste at relatively low cost. This option is likely to remain economically attractive even if energy costs
become cheaper in future (whether as a result of cheap shale gas or as a result of the development of a
disruptive new energy technology).
With regard to investing in renewables, it is important to remain abreast of current technological
development trajectories, as more appropriate and affordable solutions for Caribbean nations may become
available in the near future. For example, it would not be sensible for Caribbean nations to invest in a first
or second-generation biofuel technology, as preliminary estimates (extrapolated from US Department of
Energy conversion efficiency statistics) suggest that even the conversion of Jamaica’s entire annual biomass
into ethanol would only displace about one-third of current gasoline demand. However, a process based on
the conversion of atmospheric carbon or the production of synthetic gasoline, or possibly small, modular
pebble-bed reactors might be ideal for a small island nation. These technologies are not being developed in
the Caribbean, but that is not important, as they will become commercially available once the remaining
technical issues are resolved. The most rational strategy, therefore, is to avoid irrevocable or costly
commitments to any new technology until it has become clear which technological options can offer a
genuinely viable solution to meeting the energy needs of small islands.
Disaster preparedness
As noted earlier, the post-disaster relief efforts in most Caribbean and Central American countries are
seriously handicapped by the lack of electricity in the critical disaster and post-disaster periods and the
consequent inability to operate lighting, chillers, refrigeration (for e.g. medicines), pumps, communication
networks and so on. This problem arises directly from the centralized generation of electricity and the
network of distribution systems. These systems, especially the distribution poles and lines, are usually
physically damaged during a hurricane or similar disaster, and it takes time to bridge the broken sections.
Some individual sites have standby generators, but the majority of the population is vulnerable.
The development of more energy-efficient and self-sufficient buildings, and smart grids with decentralized
sources of energy such as biogas and photovoltaic supplies, should therefore also be seen as an essential
component of disaster preparedness.
35
Recommendation
With regard to where the major investments, policies and enabling environments will be required,
therefore, the focus should be on improving the energy efficiency of transportation, homes and offices,
manufacturing and agriculture (in that order), and possibly electricity generation, as these are the sectors
where government policies can be effective. There is less scope for government action to improve the
energy efficiency of shipping and aviation.
Building capacity
Jamaica also needs to build capacity in key areas of energy technology and policy. Current investment in
energy research worldwide is currently considered to be inadequate to meet the global challenges, but the
situation in the Caribbean is particularly problematic. Investment in RE projects is low, human capacity is
limited, and current educational programs are not producing the human resources required. This makes it
difficult for governments to make informed choices as to their preferred technical solutions.
It is important, therefore, to build capacity in three key areas; basic science, engineering, and policy and
economic analysis:
 Science provides the basis for understanding energy issues and for identifying research pathways.
 Engineering supplements this scientific knowledge by optimizing the most promising technologies,
and providing practical solutions.
 Policy and economic analysis is also necessary to understand the market and regulatory constraints
and signals that determine the dissemination and uptake of particular technological solutions.
There is also a lack of teaching on RE in the educational system. RE education should, ideally, start in
secondary school, incorporating the basic concepts of RE in the fifth form curriculum, while the universities
could develop strong undergraduate programs in RE. Undergraduate programs could then be followed by
the development of an M.Sc. in RE, a taught program of 18 months duration with one research and
development project. This program could be self-financing.
The teaching programs will depend, however, on increasing the volume, relevance and quality of research.
There is already some research activity at the two main universities in Jamaica with regard to solar and
wind energy and biofuels, so the it would make sense to initially focus on those areas. Energy efficiency is
another key area, but this is more of a social, economic and cultural problem in Jamaica than a technical
problem, so that component should involve social scientists.
Possible science and engineering research areas in Jamaica
Possible research areas include:
Solar Energy
1. Efficiency and cost of crystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells.
2. Thin film silicon solar cells using hybrid technology.
3. Thin film modules based on CdTe and CuInGaSe2.
4. Solar cells based on stable organic polymers.
5. Organic dyes for electro-chemical Graetzel cells.
6. Tandem solar cells based on III-V semiconductors
7. Power electronics for PV system.
8. Software for PV system design.
9. Solar Energy resource assessment.
Wind Energy
10. Wind resource mapping.
36
11.
12.
Wind power forecasting and integration of wind power into the power grid.
Wind Energy storage
Biofuels
13. Enzymatic conversion of starch to ethanol.
14. Algae to biofuels
Hydrogen
15. Solid hydrogen storage compounds
16. Solid efficient catalyst to produce hydrogen from hydrogen compounds.
17. Low Temperature fuel cells – search for a low cost proton exchange membrane fuel cell.
Thermal
18. thermochemical conversion platforms
Building networks
There are a number of international renewable energy research networks, but it is important to develop a
Jamaican/Caribbean research network as part of the capacity-building process. One helpful step would be
to establish a knowledge-repository facility in RE. For example, the Caribbean Academy of Sciences, Jamaica
recently established an open-access knowledge repository facility to create an open knowledge
environment in the Caribbean. This facility could be expanded further, and used to promote the
development of an active RE knowledge network.
37
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38
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39
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