KINGSTON (JIS) -- Cabinet has given approval for Pan Caribbean Sugar Company (PCSC) to amend the arrangement for the supply of energy to the national grid from 11 to 8 months per year. The Chinese-owned company was initially granted permission to enter into a power purchase agreement with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to supply 3.5 to 5.0 megawatts of electricity at a price of US$0.1073 per kilowatt-hour, for 11 months of each calendar year. At a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on Tuesday (May 31), Chair of the Electricity Sector Enterprise Team (ESET), Dr. Vincent Lawrence, informed that PCSC subsequently sought an amendment to the arrangement.
“This was approved yesterday (May 30) by Cabinet on the recommendation of ESET. They will now resume negotiations with JPS on this basis at the same price,” he said.
The PCSC will be using bagasse from its sugar production process at its Frome Factory in Westmoreland as the energy source.
Dr. Lawrence said the new arrangement will allow the company to sell its excess electricity to the JPS as it becomes available, without concerning itself with sourcing fuel outside the crop periods.
“This adjustment works for them and it can work for us also. This is making a contribution of cogeneration to two sets of activities in the country, one is the sugar production and the other is the issue of electricity grid requirement,” he pointed out.