Jamaica Energy Partners

JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS

ENERGY BACKBONE OF JAMAICA SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS

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ENERGY BACKBONE OF JAMAICA

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Cecil Gordon, Senior Manager at Jamaica Energy Partners, about renewable power generation, community initiatives, and the future of energy in Jamaica.

By Daniel Baksi Jamaica Energy Partners (JEP) is the largest independent power producer (IPP) in Jamaica. Founded in September 1995 to operate the 74.2MW Doctor Bird Power Plant in Old Harbour, over the years, the company has made a series of acquisitions to expand generating capacity, adding the 50.2MW Doctor Bird II power plant in 2006, followed in 2012 by another 65.5MW plant in the Western Kingston area. In the same year, JEP also assumed management of the Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC), a 60MW diesel plant in Kingston’s Rockfort. In 2019 the JEP group of independent power plants generated over 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of energy. Today, JEP manages roughly 250MWs of generating capacity. JEP also benefits from the support of its parent company InterEnergy, based in Miami, Florida. InterEnergy boasts over 1000MWs under its management across the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Panama. The company is also a gas producer and operator of electric charging stations, with over 1,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in circulation within the Dominican Republic.

A SHIFTING SECTOR At the time of its founding, JEP was a unique prospect for Jamaica’s power-generation. “It was a new thing for Jamaica, for a business

outside of the grid-operator to producing generating capacity,” explains Cecil Gordon, Chief Technical Officer at Jamaica Energy Partners Group. “The energy it produced was sold to the grid operator, who then distributed that energy to its customers. Previously, supply was monopolized under the government-owned Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), who had responsibility for generation, transmission, and distribution.”

Today, the Jamaican energy sector is undergoing a rapid change. “At our peak, we supplied roughly 35% of Jamaica’s energy requirements,” says Mr. Gordon. “That has since dropped. We’ve seen a few changes in

MR CECIL GORDON, CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER, JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS GROUP

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS

“EVERYTHING WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS TOWARDS THAT FINAL OBJECTIVE TO GET GREENER AND CLEANER.”

MECHANICAL TECHNICIAN, ADRIAN SALMON

the grid, with the arrival of gas and renewable energy plants and the effects of the pandemic. As a result, our contribution has been halved. But we’re still here. We have a good culture of staff, both in terms of those with technical backgrounds and our support staff. We’re making the most of that, positioning ourselves to take up any opportunities that will be available on the grid – not only in Jamaica, but also exploring opportunities across the wider Caribbean.”

RENEWED TECHNOLOGY In preparation for this, Jamaica Energy Partners is embarking on a process of improving 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

the environmental efficiency of its portfolio.

“Everything we’re doing right now is towards that final objective to get greener and cleaner,” says Mr. Gordon. “We already have one of the most efficient set of non-renewable power plants among energy suppliers. We’re now preparing to convert some of our newer plants to burn natural gas, and to replace our older plants altogether. Doing so would allow us to extend our 250MW capacity by another 20 years and would make a significant contribution towards reducing our carbon emissions. It would also mean we’d be able to reduce our cost of production, and by extension the costs for the grid operator

CRO, KATHY GOODEN; SHIFT SUPERVISOR, MYRON CAMPBELL AND PLANT TECHNICIAN, DAYNE SCOTT

JUDY WALTERS, JEP’S WELDER AND RECONDITIONING MECHANIC (RIGHT)

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS WEST KINGSTON POWER PARTNERS (WKPP)

“WE ALREADY HAVE ONE OF THE MOST EFFICIENT SET OF NON-RENEWABLE POWER PLANTS AMONG ENERGY SUPPLIERS.”

MR WAYNE MCKENZIE, OD, PRESIDENT & CEO, JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS GROUP

and the customer. We spent most of last year fine-tuning the proposal we put to the government. But, with the current pandemic and all this happening, everything has been put on hold. It’s just a matter of getting the green light.”

The company is also looking to intensify its investments in renewable energy.

“The government has just announced its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP),” explains Mr. Gordon. “That outlines their desired mix of generating capacity for the future – how much solar, how much wind, and so on. Those tenders will come to market in the next six to twelve months. Our aim is to pursue as much of renewable energy as possible. We have a specific business unit

MR CECIL GORDON RECOGNIZES DOMINIC MCINTYRE OF ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE FOR HIS EFFORTS IN WEST KINGSTON POWER PARTNERS’ INAUGURAL ENERGY DEBATING COMPETITION.

looking solely at those opportunities and doing the necessary research in terms of securing land – because renewable energy often requires significant amounts of landspace. We’re talking to our contractors, our original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), to see who we can work best with. In this respect, our parent company has already taken the lead with investments in renewable energy, and we’re following. In another two or three years, we should be very high on the clean, green energy scale.”

COMMUNITY SUPPORT For JEP, a key component of their value proposition is their investments in community support. “A big feature of our agenda

KEVIN MARRIOTT, I/E TECHNICIAN

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS

“THE FUTURE OF GENERATION IS HERE, AND WE’RE POSITIONING OURSELVES TO BE A PART OF IT. OF COURSE, WE’LL ALSO DO MORE OF WHAT WE’VE ALREADY BEEN DOING, IN TERMS OF SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES THROUGH NGOS.”

DOCTOR BIRD POWER STATION (DBPS)

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is, how can we help the country to improve the lives of our fellow citizens?” says Mr. Gordon. “We try to support the communities around the plant as much as possible, ensuring we’re good corporate citizens. We contribute to education, offering scholarships to students attending secondary and tertiary institutions. We’ve also worked with hospitals and sporting associations, because we think health and wellness are two important criteria to measure welfare for people.”

In particular, environmental support is one issue upon which the company places a heavy emphasis. “Since the advent of JEP, we’ve always been working closely with the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET),” says Mr. Gordon. “As an NGO, their work involves lobbying and educating people about the environment and about the need to protect it. A member of JEP is always on their board giving support and direction. We’ve been supporting their Schools’ Environment Program (SEP), in which they go into schools and teach youngsters the responsibility of taking care of the environment. Aside from that, we also assist other companies that want to practice energy conservation, giving them conservation tips, donating to their lighting efficiencies, and reducing the demand for mains-led emissions. Anywhere we can give a hand, we will always do so.”

GREATER HEIGHTS “We’ve done a lot, but we’re not satisfied with where we are now,” says Mr. Gordon.

“We want to do more, and we believe we have the capacity to do so. Our main aim is to get ourselves back to a position where we’re the backbone of supplying power in

Jamaica. That requires us to expand. We’re always in growth-mode, and we’re now aiming to push above 300MWs in terms of our capacity, whether that’s through acquisitions, or by developing new capacity. In terms of acquisitions, we’re targeting solar plants, because they’re the most recent additions to the grid. But we’re dependent for the most part on people being willing to sell. We have a very long list of companies that we’re targeting across the region. That’ll help us to compete, and hopefully win tenders from the government, who are being very aggressive in pushing for renewables, with the aim of meeting up to 50% of Jamaica’s energy demand with renewable energy. The future of generation is here, and we’re positioning ourselves to be a part of it. Of course, we’ll also do more of what we’ve already been doing, in terms of supporting our communities through NGOs and other community-based organizations. If we’re operating well, we also hope our employees and staff will be happy, so that together we can reach even greater heights.” c

DR CAMILLE DAVIDSON CONDUCTS A MEDICAL CONSULTATION WITH A RESIDENT OF OLD HARBOUR BAY AT JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS FREE HEALTH & WELLNESS FAIR HELD IN OLD HARBOUR BAY THIS PAST JUNE.

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JAMAICA ENERGY PARTNERS GROUP (HQ) Wikip Place, Marcus Garvey Drive Kingston, Jamaica, W.I +1 (876) 937-7936 +1 (876) 937-7915 info@jamenergy.com www.jamenergy.com

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