Energy Resilience in Jamaica
The Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance is Proud to Announce a New Official Alliance Member: the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association
The Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance (JERA) is proud to announce that the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) has joined the alliance.
March, 2023 – Kingston, Jamaica
The Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association is a leading industry association dedicated to providing vital support to exporters, manufacturers, service providers, micro, small and medium enterprises through advocacy, strategic partnerships, export services, research, capacity building, and access to finance.
As an Alliance member, JMEA is part of the largest solar demand aggregation campaigns in Jamaica and will leverage the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance’s resources in advancing sustainability business interests and promoting solar opportunities within the country’s manufacturing and export sectors for greater energy resilience.
In January 2021, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance launched the Strengthening Energy Sector Resilience in Jamaica programme. The programme aims to strengthen Jamaica’s energy sector with the ability to rebound quickly from disasters by supporting the enabling environment for the adoption of distributed and resilient renewable energy technologies, specifically solar photovoltaics and photovoltaics with battery storage.
Under USAID’s Strengthening Energy Sector Resilience programme, the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance is helping businesses seeking to reduce power costs, increase reliability of supply, and enhance their operations with no-cost assistance to inform solar technologies implementation and decision-making. Alliance members Wigton Windfarms, Xergy Energy, and WRB Energy have pledged up to US $50M dollars to support solar photovoltaics and photovoltaics with battery storage leasing in Jamaica.
“The Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association views this alliance membership as critical in advancing our members’ conversion to solar in order to reduce their energy costs. This is also important from the standpoint of the country as our expenditure on imported fossil fuels exceeds the value of our total exports and makes us vulnerable as a small island nation” said John Mahfood, President of Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Collaboration between the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance has already led to dozens of the association’s members to register and participate in USAID’s Strengthening Energy Sector Resilience programme. To date, the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance has supported solar photovoltaics and photovoltaics with battery storage projects in Jamaica with a combined 741.5 kilowatts of solar capacity.
Furthermore, several more members are currently in different stages of preparation to implement solar technologies and are receiving free energy advisory services from the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance, including site assessment visits and introductions to qualified installers and financial institutions offering solar loans.
Businesses interested in reducing power costs, increasing reliability of supply, and enhancing operations with solar photovoltaics and photovoltaics with battery storage technology should contact Nicqui Graveney at nicqui@jmea.org or visit www.cadmusgroup.com/jamaicaenergy to become part of the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance programme.
About the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance
The Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance (JERA) is a group of like-minded energy leaders from local and international private sectors, research, and academia with a shared vision to promote and support the solar energy sector in Jamaica.