28 invited to bid on generating capacity
Published:Wednesday | October 13, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Twenty-eight local and international companies have been invited by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to submit bids for the right to supply 480 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid.
This represents the largest block of generating capacity ever sought by the Jamaican regulators, and would grow the grid's current 820 MW of capacity by about 58 per cent.
It will allow for the displacement of old and inefficient generating plants and provide for growth in demand and improve the efficiency of the overall electricity generation system, said the OUR.
"The Request for Proposals (RFPs) seeks to achieve the goals of ensuring that Jamaica improves its energy efficiency in generation, contribute to fuel diversification which will impact energy security and most importantly, positively impact the affordability of electricity."
The hunt for new investors coincides with the government's push to add liquefied natural gas to the energy grid, sufficient to produce up to 300MW of electricity.
The Exmar-led consortium plans to put in place a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) at Port Esquivel to sign off on off-takers in order to secure the US$600 million financing required.
One of Exmar's targeted clients, Jamaica Public Service Company, said it is considering whether to follow through on a bid under the 480MW programme.
Winsome Callum, JPS corporate communications manager, said the company has received the request for proposal, but that it was too early to confirm participation as the documents were still being evaluated.
JPS, the monopoly energy provider, a critical party to a successful LNG programme, has a plan for converting its power plants from oil to gas, but says it cannot commit to the conversion until it was clear how the LNG programme would operate.
The proposal was to, in the middle of next year, install a 90-megawatt interim power-generating unit, while it refurbished two steam turbine generating units at its Old Harbour plant, with a combined capacity of 135 megawatts.
Two older generators at the facility would be retired.
Three units with a capacity of 192 megawatts at Hunts Bay would also be refurbished and upgraded, eventually to deliver 225 MW.
The refurbished/upgraded generators, in addition to the proposed 90 MW interim unit, would mean generating capacity at Hunts Bay and Old Harbour of 450 megawatts, 33 megawatts more than currently exists.
The installation of the new generating capacity advertised by OUR is scheduled to be carried out in two phases: first 360 MW is scheduled to be installed by 2014, and the remaining 120 MW by 2016.