Wind energy is already a proven success in many countries and wind farms are increasing considerably worldwide. In keeping with the mandate of the Jamaica Energy Sector Policy, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) has been studying the feasibility of a wind farm project. Wind speed assessments have been conducted at various sites throughout the island.
Subsequently, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica through its wholly owned subsidiary, Wigton Windfarm Limited has constructed a windfarm at Wigton - a small rural district in Central Manchester. The windfarm currently provides approximately 1.4% of the nation’s energy from the current installation of 23 – 900kWh turbines and this delivery will be doubled to 2.8% when the extension is fully operational by the end of 2009.
This expansion project proposes to add a further 18MW of generating capacity to increase overall capacity to 38.7MW. The plan includes the addition of nine (9) 2MW wind turbine generators. Construction of the new plant and turbines is expected to be completed within 17 months at a cost of approximately US$49.9 million.
Some of the benefits to be derived from the fully operational 38.7MW plant include:
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The equivalent of 108.3GWH of the energy
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64,693 barrels of oil will be saved
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90.3337 tons of Carbon Dioxide will be avoided
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US$6.4693 million reduction in the nation’s petroleum grid