Energy and Technology Minister Daryl Vaz says that leveraging the power of renewable sources for the country’s energy sector is a priority in the creation of a “new Jamaica”.

Vaz, speaking at the virtual Conversations Canada series on ‘Climate-Smart and Clean Technologies Infrastructure’ on Wednesday (March 24), argued that an energy-resilient Jamaica would be less susceptible to the fluctuating global oil prices, as well as cheaper and cleaner prospects to meet the island’s needs.

“The anticipated impact will result in less vulnerability to external economic shocks, more immunity from the negative effects of geopolitical tensions, reduced energy prices, 100 per cent electricity access and reduction in the country’s carbon footprint,” he said.

Jamaica—setting an ambitious target of achieving 33 per cent of electricity generation from renewables by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2037—will be generating approximately 22 per cent of electricity from renewable sources, according to Minister Vaz.

“Currently, we have 17 utility-scale renewable energy projects. For the five-year target to 2025, Jamaica is targeting 320 megawatts of solar and wind, 120 megawatts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 74 megawatts of hydro waste energy and/or biomass,” he noted, adding that the country is well on its way to developing an electric mobility subsector.

Continuing, Vaz further remarked that the Jamaican Cabinet has appointed a board for the entity responsible for procuring new electricity generation capacity under the Electricity Act 2015, to ensure that the country’s energy targets are met,

Also, he informed that the ministry will be undertaking a renewable energy penetration survey to update and confirm the extent of renewable energy uptake and an energy end-use survey to investigate the changes in electricity load patterns and the end-use consumption allocations.

The results from these surveys will support load forecasts for energy sector planning.

The two-day virtual Conversations Canada trade mission, which concluded yesterday, was hosted by the High Commission of Canada in Jamaica in partnership with 10 Canadian-based companies involved in the clean technology sector.

The trade mission brought together Government representatives and Canadian sector experts to discuss common priorities and economic opportunities for climate and clean technologies and examines sector needs.