New natural gas power plant in Old Harbour Bay fully operational after completing rigorous testing

“Shortly after midnight on December 17, the plant was declared operational on natural gas. Since then, the plant has been operating continually, providing clean, efficient power to the national grid,” the JPS stated in a release posted on its website.

SJPC broke ground at the Old Harbour Bay location in March 2017. Built at a cost of US$330 million, the project employed more than 470 Jamaicans during the peak of construction.  Upon completion of the project, the plant has been renamed the South Jamaica Power Centre.

Reliable, cleaner, efficient technology

The South Jamaica Power Centre is now the most efficient fuel burning power producer in the country.  The plant will generate electricity using natural gas in a more efficient manner than any other plant in the country. The new plant will play a critical role in improving power supply reliability. This plant will provide cleaner energy than the older plants that it will replace.

Long term benefits and less outages

Chairman of the SJPC management committee and JPS board director, Mo Majeed said “while we encountered challenges associated with a project of this magnitude, we are happy to declare the plant ready to serve JPS’ customers. We fully expect the inclusion of natural gas in power generation to result in greater fuel diversification and the stabilization of electricity costs over the long term, while enhancing energy security for the nation”.

The integration of more renewables on the grid and improved technology will lower generation costs, as well as Jamaica’s exposure to the volatility in world oil prices. The new plant and natural gas will replace the heavy fuel oil now used for much of the country’s electricity generation. This shift to natural gas will result in cleaner and more environmentally friendly energy.

Inside the Technology

The combined cycle power plant has the capacity to support 300,000 homes. The new system uses three (3) dual fuel natural-gas-fired/ADO automotive diesel oil gas turbine generators, three supplemental natural gas-fired heat recovery steam generators, one steam turbine generator, a sea water cooled condenser, and related ancillary equipment.

The new plant is located next to the old JPS Power Station in Old Harbour Bay, which will be completely decommissioned in 2020. The new 194MW plant will replace several of JPS’ 50-year-old generating units that run on heavy fuel oil – that are due for retirement. The South Jamaica Power Centre is Jamaica’s second power plant to operate on natural gas, following the conversion of JPS’ Bogue Power Station in Montego Bay, from automotive diesel oil to natural gas.

The SJPC project, is a joint venture with MaruEnergy, JPSCO 1 SRL, EWP (Barbados) 1 SRL and the Petro Caribe Development Fund. The Spanish firm, TSK, was contracted to complete the new plant.