JAMAICA Public Service (JPS) said its power generation teams have now completed the overhaul of one of the three generating units, located at the Old Harbour Power Plant in St Catherine.

The 65MW capacity facility, (Unit 3), which produces on average 320,000 megawatt hours of electricity per annum, was taken out of service in April of this year, to facilitate the overhaul/rehabilitation exercise. The project represents an investment by JPS of US$8.55m or J$1.035 billion, and will result in a five per cent improvement in the reliability of the unit, as well as enhanced efficiency in the use of fuel. It should be noted that the renewed unit will now operate as efficiently as it did when originally purchased.

Old Harbour’s Unit 3, produces enough electricity to power 130,000 households per annum — assuming a household consumption rate of 200 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. The company was, however, able to allow this unit to be out of commission, due to the preparation of other units for maximum performance, as well as coordination with the country’s Independent Power Producers.