THE 7.2 megawatts of renewable energy added to the national grid last week with the opening of a hydroelectric power plant in Maggotty, St Elizabeth has brought the country’s renewable capacity to 29 megawatts, or seven per cent of the total 900 installed capacity.

According to the Government’s national energy policy articulated in the Vision 2030 Development Plan, the renewable energy portfolio should be 20 per cent of total capacity by the year 2020. In tandem with that is a planned reduction in the cost of electricity by at least 30 per cent by 2016.

At US$40 per kilowatt hour, the cost of electricity in Jamaica is said to be among the highest in the Caribbean, and has been of increasing concern, particularly among manufacturers who argue that the high cost renders their business uncompetitive. Householders complain about the cost too, with a growing number adopting solar energy, at least in part.

“Renewables have to be part of the energy diversification plan if Government is to reduce the cost of energy in any real way. It is in tandem with the push to balance the trade deficit caused by the cost of importing oil which accounts for 70 per cent of what we pay for electricity,” Jamaica Public Service (JPS) spokesperson Winsome Callum told the Jamaica Observer.

The new plant, the company said, will generate electricity using the natural flow of the Black River, as opposed to using fossil fuels.

The new plant, referred to as Maggotty II, is the ninth of its kind to be operated by JPS. There is another in Maggotty, called Maggotty I, while the others are in St Ann – at Upper White River, Lower White River, and Roaring River; Trelawny — Rio Bueno A and Rio Bueno B; and St Andrew — one in Constant Spring and the other in Rams Horn.

Another component of JPS’ renewable portfolio to date is a three-megawatt windfarm in St Elizabeth which it opened last year.

Wigton Windfarm in Manchester, a subsidiary of Government’s Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, also contributes to the national grid, providing two per cent of the overall seven.

Construction on the new Maggotty plant began in January 2013 and was completed in the first quarter of 2014. It cost over US$36 million and will provide electricity for about 23,000 households.