THE new liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant at Old Harbour, St Catherine, has helped reduced the carbon footprint from power generation in Jamaica by almost 60 per cent and will go a far way in helping the country to come into alignmemt with the climate change goals, according to minister with responsiblity for water, environment and climate change, Senator Matthew Samuda.

Samuda was speaking during a tour of the Old Harbour, Saint Catherine plant of South Jamaica Power Centre (SJPC), an affiliate of Marubeni Caribbean Power Company, on Thursday (April 27). The tour was led by SJPC Chairman Mohamed Majeed and included directors of the company and the shareholder representatives of Marubeni and Korea East-West Power Co Ltd. He praised the company and the facility for achieving the levels of efficiency, and said the ministry looked forward to ongoing contact with the company as the operation progresses.

“Our stated targets include cutting emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, and concurrently we intend to get to 50 per cent renewables usage in that period,” he said. “Against that background it has been very useful for us to be able to see the operation here first-hand and get an understanding of the process in our quest to maximise the opportunities for fuel source diversification.”

Majeed, in welcoming the minister, stated that the plant — a US$350-million investment — would have a significant and positive impact on Jamaica’s long-term growth and development by providing cleaner energy and improving power supply reliability.

“This plant was constructed to be responsive to the need for more renewables to be added to the grid while being 68 per cent more efficient and producing 59 per cent less emissions than the retired plant.” He added that the plant has already been operating at a world-class standard since commencing commercial operations in December 2019, a fact of which Jamaicans could be justly proud.