WASHINGTON, DC – Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller has commended the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for its financing of an investment of US$90 million in a clean energy project in Jamaica as one of the first investments from a new US$700 million OPIC fund to encourage clean energy. The Jamaican project – Blue Mountain Renewables – will see a 34 megawatt wind facility built and operated in Jamaica by BMR Limited. Construction is expected to start in June this year.
Caribbean Energy Security Summit
Prime Minister Simpson Miller praised the new fund at the Caribbean Energy Security Summit. This event took place at the US State Department in Washington D.C. on Monday, January 26. US Vice President Joseph Biden announced the OPIC fund and the Jamaican investment. He led the meeting with Caribbean leaders, US officials, and heads of international financial institutions.
In her speech at the summit, Prime Minister Simpson Miller discussed Jamaica’s energy issues. She highlighted the country’s efforts to address these problems. She mentioned that this includes using different fuels to make electricity and steam power. Jamaica is also using more renewable energy, mainly from wind and solar sources. The country is working to improve how it generates, transmits, and distributes electricity. This includes replacing old equipment and updating others, according to the Prime Minister. She also said that the Jamaican Government is encouraging energy conservation in homes, offices, factories, farms, and transportation.
“Before the recent reductions in oil prices, energy represented more than one-third of our total import bill, accounting for more than 125 per cent of our total merchandise exports,” Prime Minister Simpson Miller outlined.
She added that high oil prices have hurt the economy. They have limited foreign exchange reserves. This has made it harder for major industries to compete. Energy-intensive industries like bauxite and alumina are affected the most. These industries are the largest in the country. They need both electricity and steam to operate.
Mining Sector
“In respect of the mining sector, there has been the closure of two million tonnes of annual alumina capacity since 2009 as a direct result of the high cost of energy. This is equivalent to US $700 million of gross annual export earnings,” Prime Minister Simpson Miller reported, adding that: “With the money spent on electricity, petrol and liquefied petroleum gas for cooking, the disposable incomes of individuals and businesses have been suppressed. This, in turn, adversely affects local economic activities as people simply have less money to spend on both locally produced goods and services and imports.”
The Prime Minister acknowledged the assistance extended to Jamaica over the past 30 years from concessionary facilities – the San Jose Accord, by Venezuela and Mexico; The Energy Accord of Caracas by Venezuela; and PETROCARIBE, also by Venezuela. Even with this assistance, she noted, the price of oil has remained a burden on the Jamaican economy and these challenges will remain whether oil prices remain at or near the current levels.
