Prime Minister Andrew Holness believes that Jamaica can potentially host more renewable-energy sources to add up to 50 per cent of electricity to the national grid by 2030, which would also give the country more options for cleaner energy.

Eight Rivers Energy Company, the entity set to operate the Paradise Park Solar Farm in Westmoreland, says the project is half-complete and due for commissioning by the second quarter of this year.

PARADISE PARK, Westmoreland — Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Andrew Wheatley says the Eight Rivers Energy Company's US$60-million 37-megawatt solar-powered plant, for which ground was broken yesterday, will push Jamaica's energy diversification efforts.

Ground is to be broken tomorrow at Paradise Park, Westmoreland, for what is being described as the largest solar-powered plant in the Caribbean.

Eight Rivers Energy Company expects to start construction of the largest solar energy plant in Jamaica by December, according to local newspaper »The Gleaner«. The solar plant with a capacity of 37 MW is located at Paradise Park, Westmoreland. It would become nearly twice the size of the largest solar plant in Jamaica, says the article. 

Angella Rainford, partner in Eight Rivers Energy Company, expects to start construction of the largest solar energy plant in Jamaica by December.

Concurrently, Rainford expressed a "keen" interest in participating in additional energy projects. She explained that the energy storage remains a likely option. In such a case, the company's solar plant would sell excess energy generated during the day for sale at night to the national energy grid.

CREF 2017, the largest annual gathering of the Caribbean energy market, will take place at the JW Marriott Marquis, Miami, from October 18th-20th. 500 attendees from 50 countries attended CREF 2016. Over 20 Caribbean countries were represented. Rekamniar has been invited to showcase the Eight Rivers project at this year's conference.

JPS has now signed a Power Purchase Agreement, with Eight Rivers Energy Company, which will be constructing a 37MW Solar Power Plant in Paradise Park Westmoreland later this year.  Under the agreement, JPS will be purchasing electricity from the new solar facility for twenty years, to the year 2038.

Over 400 women are set to have a thrilling second edition of the annual Women In Energy (WIE) Conference, which takes place on March 9 and 10 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. The Conference, which is spearheaded by the Women of JPS, seeks to broaden the discussion on the developments in energy and how everyone impacts the future of energy.

OST Energy North America has been appointed as Owner’s Engineer by renewable energy developer Eight Rivers Energy Company (EREC), for Jamaica’s largest solar energy project to date. The 37 MW scheme is being delivered by Neoen and its partners in the project, MPC, Ferrostaal and Rekamniar Frontier Ventures.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the first grant through the Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America (CEFF-CCA), to help develop a 37 megawatt solar farm in Westmoreland.

CEFF-CCA will provide support to Rekamniar Capital Limited, the project developer, to partner with independent power producer Neoen on forming the Eight Rivers Energy Company, which will build the solar facility, according to a release from the US embassy in Kingston.