THE National Water Commission (NWC) is in the final stages of the licensing process for the sale of energy from the Mona Reservoir Floating Solar Project to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS).

Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Matthew Samuda gave the update during the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) Water Symposium, held under the theme ‘Sustainable Water Management and Innovation’, at the institution’s Papine campus in St Andrew on Wednesday.

Senator Samuda said the 44-megawatt floating solar system is expected to generate billions in savings for the NWC, which, he noted, is the JPS’s single-largest customer.

“That process is in the final stages of getting its [wheeling] licences from the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) to facilitate sale of energy to JPS. The pilot phase of that project is over… so expect a 100-acre solar farm at Mona,” he said.

Wheeling is the transmission of electric energy, measured in megawatt-hours (MWh), from within an electrical grid to an electrical load outside the grid’s boundaries.

Samuda reiterated the Government’s dedication to implementing strategic projects that will generate clean energy, which is resilient and climate adaptive.

“Certainly, you have to do your studies, your land use studies, environmental impact assessments, your social studies to see what the impact will be… for systems that could generate power,” he noted.

Derillion Energy Jamaica Limited (DEJL) is partnering with the Aten Group and REIL Energy Investments Limited (REIL) to execute the Mona Reservoir Floating Solar Project. The pilot phase was officially launched by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in September 2022.

Meanwhile, Minister Samuda affirmed the Government’s commitment to global environment sustainability and protection of Jamaica’s water sources.

He said that a Watershed Management Policy has been tabled to guide how watersheds are managed.

“The Government is actively participating in a major project for linear mapping for much of its watershed areas. So we are taking a very serious look at our watersheds to ensure that what we have assessed to be there is as stable as can be. There are factors outside of our control, such as climate change. But we are taking the steps within our microclimate to ensure that we protect our water sources,” he said.

Noting the critical link between land use and watershed management, Samuda said 25 per cent of land mass has been safeguarded to date, with Jamaica on track to achieve the 30 per cent conservation target by the end of 2025.

He pointed out that land mass protection “ensures that there isn’t dense development in places where they shouldn’t be, that you’re not building on riverbanks, etc. So the Government is well down the wicket in protecting that landscape.”

– JIS