OUR gives JPS until March 15 to submit details of proposal to supply 360 MW of power
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has given the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) until March 15 to submit the details of an alternative proposal for supplying 360 megawatts of power to the national grid.
Earlier this month, the OUR had announced it had ended the request for proposal process with the JPS for the 360 megawatts power plant.
A day after missing the January 30 deadline to provide final details of how it would undertake the project, the JPS had made an alternative proposal to the OUR.
But in a release last night the OUR said the company’s alternative proposal could not have been considered within the context that the RFP as it was now an unsolicited proposal.
The OUR says several other companies have also expressed interest in providing the generation capacity since the termination of the RFP process.
It says those companies also have until March 15 to concretise their unsolicited submissions into firm proposals.
According to the OUR, it will only entertain firm proposals in a state of readiness to be finalized with minimal negotiations.
It says the proposals must be for the provision of electricity only and must be accompanied by the relevant fuel supply and other financing agreements.
The OUR says by the end of March it will complete its review of whether the proposals are feasible.
The regulator says it will then be the government’s decision whether it moves to finalise a deal with any of the companies.
The OUR says if none of the proposals is found to be feasible then it will return to the market and invite public tender.
The JPS was awarded the right to construct a 360 megawatt Combined Cycle plant in late 2011.
The plant was originally scheduled for completion by mid-2014 and was part of the project to supply up to 480 megawatts of new generating capacity for the country in various tranches.