KINGSTON: Work is to get underway on the J$2.5 billion (US$22.54 million) Bogue Gas Conversion Project in St. James.
Official launch of the multibillion-dollar undertaking to convert the 120-megawatt plant into a dual facility for automotive diesel oil (ADO) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) is undertaking the project in collaboration with American company, Fortress Energy, which will supply the plant with LNG.
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, in his remarks at the launch, said the project will provide a catalyst for new opportunities, including the potential to establish Jamaica as a Caribbean energy hub.
He said discussions held last year with officials from the United States (US) Government could see the setting up of facilities in the island for the distribution of LNG to other Caribbean countries at a cheaper rate.
“We are so well placed geographically to establish a hub…it is not only Jamaicans, who want gas, but gas can be distributed from Jamaica to Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and those in the Western Caribbean, and Jamaica can facilitate that,” he said.
He noted that sectors including transportation and shipping also stand to benefit.
Meanwhile, Minister Paulwell maintained his commitment to oversee the reduction of electricity costs in Jamaica, to between US 15 cents and US 18 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“That is how we believe Jamaica will become competitive. So, to hear JPS President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kelly (Tomblin) announce that some customers…are already benefiting in that margin…I feel very proud, I feel very happy, I am exuberant!” Minister Paulwell said.
The agreement between JPSCo and Fortress was signed on August 6 this year and will run for 10 years, in which LNG will be shipped from Fort Lauderdale in the US to Bogue.
The conversion of the power plant from solely diesel to ADO/LNG will see JPSCo converting about 10 per cent of its overall electricity generation to gas. The project is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2016.
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