WESTERN BUREAU:

A new aluminium refinery plant is to be established on Jamaica's north coast to facilitate clean coal technology, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has revealed.

The prime minister made the disclosure while giving the keynote address at the official commissioning of a new 10-megawatt capacity facility at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) plant in Bogue, St James. The JPS said it is investing US$8.5 million (J$756.5 million) on the project as part of its generation-expansion programme.

Golding said the project was previously on the front burner, but had suffered a setback due largely to the global economic crunch. He, however, gave his assurance that it would be back on track.

Reconfigured

"I have been assured by the partners that the project is alive and is being pursued and is being reconfigured in terms of a timeline because they wish to see some clearer indication of when the global aluminium market will recover.

"There is a proposal before us for the establishment of a new alumina refinery that is under consideration. Inherent in that proposal is the idea of establishing a clean coal plant, which will have a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW), only 40 MW of which would be required for its processing facilities and the other 60MW would be available for sale to the national grid," he said.

Clean coal is an umbrella term used to describe methods that have been developed to reduce the environmental impact of coal-based electricity.

Meanwhile, the JPS said its generation-expansion programme would result in additional power being made available to the national grid, as well as improve the reliability of supply to customers.

Significance

Golding described the plant expansion as one of significance.

"What the JPS has used here is the most modern technology that's available. The inlet-cooling system allows the JPS to increase the output of the plant in the context of Jamaica's climatic condition," said Golding.

"We are employing the combined cycle technology, which improves the rate of conversion of fuel to energy and the heat that is generated by the two combustion turbines is then converted to steam," he explained. This is then used to drive the 40-megawatt steam generation unit which is not yet driven to its full capacity and still has room for further expansion.

Referring to arguments put forward during the Budget Debate earlier this year, Golding said a decision was taken that natural gas would be introduced as an important new source of fuel to ensure Jamaica's energy security for the future.

noel.thompson@gleanerjm.com