terms of reference tor # mempcj201006037re - Petroleum ...

2.2 JAMAICA’S ECONOMY & POWER SECTOR
Jamaica is the largest English-speaking Caribbean island with a population of 2.82
million. The population density is 656 people per square mile, and the average annual
population growth rate is 0.7% per annum. The average life expectancy is 75 years old.
The poverty headcount ratio is about 10%.
Jamaica has an area of 10,990 square kilometres. The country’s per capita Gross National
Income is US$4,870 (FY 2010). The unemployment rate at June 2009 was 11.4%. In
February 2010, Jamaica and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed a stand-by
facility agreement for US$1.27 billion to support structural reforms and dampen the
effects of the global economic recession on the economy.
Jamaica’s electricity sector is regulated by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). The
addition of generation services is subject to competition for capacity additions which are
greater than 15 MW. The transmission and distribution services are provided through a
monopoly license which is held by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) Ltd. JPS
is 80% owned by Marubeni Caribbean Holdings Inc. with the GoJ owning most of the
remaining shares, and a small group of shareholder maintaining less than 1% stake.
Independent power producers including Wigton Wind Farm Ltd provide about 36% of
the island’s generating needs. The bauxite companies and sugar sector own selfgeneration
facilities. JPS serves about 590,000 customers and operates four power plants
and eight (8) hydropower schemes. The nation’s peak demand is about 840 MW.
2.3 THE COUNTRY’S ENERGY MIX
Jamaica’s energy mix remains dependent on the use of imported fossil/petroleum fuels
which account for 91% of the energy mix, while renewable resources account for 9%.
Table 1.0 below indicates the petroleum import levels over the past five years, and the
utilization by sector.
6