The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is helping Jamaica in drafting guidelines and rules for the procurement of renewable energy. 

The Jamaican Government has engaged the IDB to support its generation procurement entity with the planned call for at least 268 megawatt (MW) of power. The last such process was in 2015 for 37MW of power.

Work on the guidelines is scheduled to begin shortly. To this end, the IDB is accepting expressions of interest to provide consultancy services. 

The eight-month contract will entail conducting a review of existing procurement procedures in Jamaica and preparing procurement procedures and protocols, such as requirements for bidders, among other tasks. 

The consultancy falls under IDB technical cooperation in support of sustainable energy and resilient projects in the Caribbean. 

In May this year, Jamaica’s Energy Minister Daryl Vaz announced that a request for proposals to add new generation capacity from renewables was expected within six months.

Jamaica’s integrated resource plan envisions that renewable energy will account for 32 per cent of power production in 2030 increasing to 49 per cent by 2037. Renewable energy, namely solar, wind and hydro energy currently account for around 20 per cent of power generation in Jamaica.