KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) has invested $22 million in the installation of variable frequency drives (VFDs) at the National Irrigation Commission’s (NIC) six pumping facilities across the island.

The VFDs, located at sites in St Catherine, Clarendon, Trelawny and

St Elizabeth, are expected to efficiently regulate the utilisation of energy in pumping and supplying irrigation water to farmers.

A VFD is a type of motor controller that drives an electric motor by varying the frequency and voltage supplied to the electric motor.

The use of this technology is expected to save the NIC $18 million annually and reduce the entity’s energy usage by 535.6 megawatt hours each year.

Speaking at a handover ceremony at Clarendon Park Gardens on Tuesday, State Minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson, commended the efforts of the PCJ in reducing energy costs in the public sector.

He noted that the entity has been making “strategic interventions” at organisations that have a large demand for energy in order to cut costs and improve efficiencies in their service delivery.

Earlier this year, the PCJ installed energy-efficient air-conditioning systems at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine and the Annotto Bay Hospital in St Mary.  The combined impact of these two projects should result in the country saving close to

$3.5 million each year.

The PCJ’s Group General Manager, Winston Watson, said the provision of the systems is in keeping with the agency’s mandate to slash the country’s high energy bill, which amounts to some $14 billion per annum.  “Each energy efficiency project we complete helps to reduce the total spend,” he pointed out.