Green Concepts International (GCI), the Jamaica-based renewable energy company, is moving ahead to explore the potential for deploying its waste-to-energy concept throughout the Americas. The move comes with the company, in collaboration with GrnBit Cayman Holdings Ltd (GBCH), signing a contract with OklaColo LLC, an overseas firm, to explore potential landfill sites and MSW Corporations, where GrnBit Digital’s solutions can be deployed.
In the initial stage, GCI through a strategic partnership will launch GrnBit Digital Bermuda (GBDB), a new company offering innovative solutions for eco-based regulatory compliant digital asset services. GBDB is assembling a team of industry experts in modular data centre operations, cyber-security, finance, AI and renewable energy, with a focus on the MSW Thermochemical Process (TCP) Waste to Energy and Immersion Cooling technologies.
This is the same technology Green Concepts International said it is trying to bring to Jamaica to manage the island’s dumps while generating electricity for the national grid, but has found hurdles in achieving it. Outside of Jamaica, GCI is embarking on an ambitious project to design, construct, and operate a state-of-the-art, waste-to-energy plant with a capacity of 600-5,000 tons per day. The 600-ton plant aims to generate a constant 15 megawatt-hours (MWH) of power using an innovative TCP system and Organic Ranking Cycle Turbines (ORC) for Interruptible Data Computing. The TCP system is a revolutionary solution that promises a clean and efficient method of handling various types of waste, including municipal solid waste (MSW), tyres, plastics, medical waste, and more. Unlike incineration or gasification, which are highly inefficient processes, the TCP system addresses multiple environmental concerns. The project incorporates an energy storage system (ESS) utilising a combination of both batteries and hydrogen, ensuring the efficient storage of excess energy for data center redundancy purposes.
Brian Yap Sam of GCIl is taking the lead role on the renewable energy side of the GrnBit project, while the collaboration also includes the participation of Jamaican firm Greensun Energy Tech, another local engineering firm responsible for the design and implementation of the system. In an exclusive interview, Yap Sam highlighted GCI’s commitment to maintaining the most efficient system for handling diverse waste streams. He underscored the scale of the garbage issue around the world and in Jamaica, citing the collection of over 1,000 tons of waste daily between Kingston and Montego Bay. This substantial volume translates to a remarkable 25 MWH of renewable power per day that will be utilised on-site, reinforcing the notion that where there is MSW, there is potential.

Frustration in Jamaica
But while Yap Sam eyes global markets, he told the Jamaica Observer that he yearns to be given the approvals to solve his home country’s garbage issues with the environmentally friendly system, while generating electricity for the grid. But even his venture into waste-to-energy, despite the frustrations he faces, was born out of frustration from the original project he returned to Jamaica to implement.
Yap Sam said he returned to Jamaica about two years ago on the urging of his son, who wanted to return to his homeland from the United States. He said with his engineering background, he decided that he would return to satisfy his son’s desire and start the company.
“The whole idea behind Green Concepts was to come to Jamaica and manufacture batteries and export to North America,” he told the Business Observer. But he said he ran into problems after spending between US$700,000 to US$1 million setting up to produce lithium ion phosphate batteries.
“We went through Jampro and all the channels hoping to achieve what we wanted to achieve, [but] we realised we were not told the whole truth, and then we couldn’t export. So we have to branch out into other areas where we started an engineering company and we got more into renewables, so we look at areas like hydorgen and other stuff,” he continued.
But Yap Sam said, having researched the local solar market, he spent the money to set up to give Jamaicans a better offer than they were getting, including warranties on the products he sold.
“Right now, if you check it out, you have a lot of people who offer batteries, and even installers who also offer batteries, but no warranty,” he pointed out. “And you can’t send them back to China for repairs. You can’t send them to the US for repairs.”
“But we want to do it properly. We invested money in what we call an aging machine, where after we assemble the batteries, we put them through a five-hour cycle of testing and verifying before it goes to the public. Testing to make sure there is nothing wrong with any of the cells and the battery is in perfect working condition.”
Yap Sam said unlike some distributors of solar systems in Jamaica, Green Concepts International has authorisation to repair any equipment it sells.
“We have inverters, batteries, solar panels. We can honour the warranty we offer on them because we’re allowed to open, fix and repair them. We’re more than a sticker in what we’re trying to offer people,” he noted.
But having pivoted his company to realise a return on his investment, Yap Sam, as indicated above, has finally gotten a breakthrough with the waste-to-energy exploration project and hopes it goes beyond that to actual implementation.
“Well, we have a lot of groundwork to do first. We have to do the paperwork and do all the proposals and designs. That will probably take six months and then obviously after that, the approvals to go through,” he said, offering a six-month to one-year timeline to implement.
But while he looks to the first project, Yap Sam said he is garnering new interest from firms as far away as Africa.
“Because of the unique way we handle the garbage, we’re one of the cleanest systems in processing garbage right now. So, we have calls from Nigeria, we’re actually dealing with somebody over there; they want to look at the systems. We also have couple of the islands here in the Caribbean that we’re looking at as well.”
“We have two or three different islands we’re looking at right now that are interested in it, too. The interesting part is some of them are interested in the energy output from the waste and some of them are just interested in the getting rid of their garbage alone. They’re not interested in the energy-generation side of it. People have different needs for it, because even some parts of Nigeria, they’re not even interested in the energy. They just want to get rid of the garbage.”
He said that earlier this week, a firm in another Caribbean island called to inquire about using the system he is offering to manage waste.
Yet, he said he has not given up on building and selling batteries and solar systems. However, the focus has changed.
“We are trying to concentrate more on the commercial side of it because we realise the commercial people not taking advantage of the solar system because they’re afraid, because a lot of them are getting burnt. People are putting in systems that really cannot do what they need it to do,” he said.
He added that while last year “it was a struggle”, things are picking up now.
“Right now, we have made that company decision that if we put in a commercial system and they won’t sign a service contract, I’m not interested in it. Because if something happens, you’re going to hear that we do bad work,” he outlined.