Wigton Windfarm Limited (trading as Wigton Energy) and SunTerra Energy Jamaica Limited have seen their bids move to the pre-awarded bid stage, one step closer to 100 Megawatts (MW) of renewable energy being added to Jamaica’s energy mix.

The pre-award document was published on Monday by the Generation Procurement Entity (GPE), the government body which is mandated to develop and implement the process for the procurement of new generating capacity by means of competitive bidding. There were 12 submitted bids, with two bids given pre-awarded status and two bids given non-pre-awarded status.

Wigton’s bid saw it submit a 49.83 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project with a capacity factor of 23.46 per cent to be operated in Clarendon. This project would have an annual guaranteed energy offered of 102,509.28 MWh at a price of US$63.26 MWh for an estimated production cost (revenue) of US$6.48 million ($1.01 billion). Wigton is a publicly listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), which operates a 62.7MW windfarm across 44 windturbines in Rose Hill, Manchester.

SunTerra’s pre-awarded bid was for a 50 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project with a capacity factor of 26.89 per cent to be operated in Trelawny. This project would have an annual guaranteed energy offered of 117,889.30 MWh at a price of US$59.90 MWh for an estimated production cost (revenue) of US$7.06 million ($1.10 billion). SunTerra is a company owned by founder and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel DaRosa and minority shareholder Troy Brennan as per Companies Office of Jamaica records. SunTerra directly invests in and operates solar-producing assets across the Caribbean.

The two non-pre-awarded bids were from Jamaica Energy Partners and InterEnergy Renewables SL for a 50MW solar PV project in St Catherine and from Blue Mahoe Energy Company Limited (Braziletto) for a 50MW solar PV project in Clarendon.

The next stage of the process involves the analysis of the pre-award bids before moving on to the opening of the technical proposals to the GPE by the four bidders. In the event a pre-awarded bid is rejected, a process will be done to consider the other non-pre-awarded bids. After the technical proposal phase to execute the project is completed, the successful bidders will be announced at a later date. A subsequent period will begin for the bidders to obtain the relevant licence and sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS), the sole purchaser of this energy.

Wigton signed an addendum to its existing agreement with JPS on February 16 to extend the operations of Wigton Phase I by an extra three years starting on April 1.

Wigton’s 2024 financial year ending March 31 saw its revenue dip seven per cent to $2.06 billion, with operating profit coming in 16 per cent lower from $1.07 billion to $897.69 million. After finance costs and a share of loss from its associate, Wigton’s profit before tax was down by a quarter to $480.84 million. However, Wigton’s net profit jumped 172 per cent from $308.65 million to $839.02 million due to the company benefiting from a tax recovery with Tax Administration Jamaica and confirmation of a 25 per cent tax rate, and not the 33.3 per cent it was charged last year.

Wigton’s total assets were down five per cent to $10.41 billion, with cash and cash equivalents at $3.78 billion. Total liabilities and shareholder’s equity were $5.21 billion and $5.20 billion, respectively.

Wigton’s stock price closed Tuesday at $1.07, which leaves it up 35 per cent in 2024 with a market capitalisation of $11.74 billion. Wigton also declared a dividend of $0.009312 totalling $102.43 million to be paid on July 29 to shareholders on record as of July 15. This is Wigton’s second announced dividend this year which comes at a time under new Chairman Dennis Chung and newly announced Chief Executive Officer Gary Barrow.

Wigton’s first-quarter report is set to be published by August 14. Cacao Holdings Limited has become Wigton’s fifth-largest shareholder with a 4.82 per cent stake as of March 31. Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited continues to be the largest shareholder with a 8.53 per cent stake, followed by the VM Building Society with 8.00 per cent, and the National Insurance Fund with a 6.43 per cent stake.