“Fiya deh a muss-muss tail, ‘im tink a cool breeze” Growing
up in the uplands of Trelawny, Jamaica, I have been immersed in a daily dosage
of Jamaican proverbs which are considered the second language of the area; this
by far is one of my favorite. Many share the view that an IMF deal might be
Jamaica’s solution to the islands economic woes, but nothing could be further
from the truth. Until the day our blessed nation has a solid strategy that will
increase growth, production and development to reduce its debt instead of
borrowing its way out, our economy will remain unstable. An IMF Deal is a
burning “Fiya under the muss muss tail”, we can use this fire to build a solid
platform to stabilize our economy. Generating electrical energy from the “cool
breeze” off the coast of the island will reduce oil import bill while providing
jobs and a reliable source of renewable energy to efficiently power our daily
activities. Trending down this path will put the wind to work for our economy
and make its contribution to our country as we harness the benefits and
revenues from a solid renewable energy portfolio.
How could we achieve 100% Renewable Jamaica: Wind, Solar and Conservation
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| An European offshore wind farm |
How could we achieve 100% Renewable Jamaica: Wind, Solar and Conservation
Wind turbines are devices used to harness electrical
energy from the wind, a wind farm is a collection of these wind turbines and an
offshore wind farm are turbines located in the sea and used to generate reliable
electricity from sustained offshore winds. An offshore wind farm is Jamaica’s
most economical medium term renewable energy solution since it provides room
for constant expansion and utilizes the strong, sustained Caribbean sea breeze.
Developing such an energy source will be a solid investment to permanently
reduce the cost of energy in the medium term and a great avenue to show the
direction of the country coming out of the 48 months IMF agreement. This will
demonstrate that our island has the capacity to work its way out of debt and
provide the additional energy needed especially in light of the recent collapse
of the 360MW LNG project.
Offshore Research
While undertaking my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering
at the University of Technology, Jamaica I embarked on a research to study the
feasibility of developing an offshore wind farm off the south coast of the
island. This research was placed 3rd in the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) Student Technical Paper Competition in Nashville
Tennessee, March 2011. It has since been published in an IEEE Journal late last
year.
This research revealed that the Caribbean has the third strongest offshore wind
profile globally. The only other regions with stronger offshore winds are the
northern and southern extra tropics which are predominantly uninhabitable. This
means that due to our geographic location, the Caribbean has a more reliable
and more sustained offshore wind speed which would equate to more electricity
generated daily by a Jamaican offshore wind farm. The Caribbean’s wind profile
is primarily due to the presence of a large undisturbed body of water (the
Caribbean Sea) off the island’s south coast and since there are no hills, no
mountains and no valleys to disturb the wind pattern or to reduce the wind
speed this makes energy generation much more efficient offshore than on land.
Another major benefit of an offshore wind farm is the accessibility to space
for future expansions. The sea is virtually limitless and with growing
technology that allows you to install the turbines in the sand, or allow them to
float miles off the coast, wherever there is wind there can be a turbine
generating clean, reliable electrical power out at sea and connecting it back
to the coast for residents’ consumption.
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| Undertaking my summer internship at the largest wind farm in the English Speaking Caribbean |
In an earnest bid to discover a viable renewable energy alternative
our government has recently invested just over US$1million to conduct a
feasibility study for hydropower at five sites across the island. This is a
step in the right direction to providing an energy mix and a timely solution to
the collapse Liquid Natural Gas project. An offshore wind farm off the south
coast of Manchester, as proposed in the internationally awarded research, would
provide the 360MW of energy needed with only 72 wind turbines rated at 5MW
each. A verification of our offshore sand and gravel deposits done by Robinson
and Rowe, UWI Mona, 2007 showed that the area had 90% Carbonate Sand which is
ideal and highly stable for mounting the 5MW wind turbines. The depth of the
water was virtually measured with the help of the Mona GeoInformatics
Institute. The measurements revealed that the existing depth of the sea bed for
the proposed site, is relatively shallow
compared to other offshore wind farms globally, and so would result in a
reduced cost for mounting turbines at this site when compared to mounting
turbines in deeper waters offshore.
God caused the LNG project to fail for a reason, gas like
fossil fuel will not be cheap forever and even though it presents itself as a
cheaper option we are in urgent need of long term permanent solutions that will
contribute to our economical and environmental stability, neither of which LNG
would afford. A 360MW offshore wind farm would stand as the 2nd
largest in the world and the first of its kind in the western hemisphere. The
thought of being the first should not intimidate our nation was among the first
countries in the world to receive electricity in 1892 and our very own Wigton
Wind Farm Ltd is the largest onshore wind farm in the English Speaking
Caribbean. Wind energy can cool the IMF “fiya unda di muss-muss tail” if we
strategically plan our way forward and leave out of this deal with something to
show for the rough economical days ahead. Wind technology is currently cheaper
than any other form of energy in Australia and is trending in the same
direction in Germany. Neither of these two countries possesses a solid offshore
wind profile like that of our small but powerful Caribbean island. This won’t
happen overnight but as was evident when large corporation stepped forward to
support the NDX, the average Jamaican will support a solid renewable energy
initiative that will permanently lower the cost of energy in the medium term. It
is time for our mighty island to lead the way, to take the stand, to create the
global model by placing wind turbines offshore in the sand. Above all it’s time
for Jamaica to take another step in playing her part in advancing the welfare
of the whole human race.
This post was prepared as part of the Blogboutdat Campaign, an initiative of the Jamaica Blog awards (JBA). The JBA partnered with several foundations who provided topics for local bloggers to choose from. My topic was contributed by Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and is provided here in its original format: Jamaica is on the verge of signing another IMF agreement. Write a post suggesting a sustainable alternative to this deal. Suggest how young people might contribute to solving the nation's economic crisis.
This post was prepared as part of the Blogboutdat Campaign, an initiative of the Jamaica Blog awards (JBA). The JBA partnered with several foundations who provided topics for local bloggers to choose from. My topic was contributed by Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and is provided here in its original format: Jamaica is on the verge of signing another IMF agreement. Write a post suggesting a sustainable alternative to this deal. Suggest how young people might contribute to solving the nation's economic crisis.
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