Jamaica in good position to achieve revised renewable energy target

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Fayval Williams, has indicated that the country is in good position to achieve the revised target of having 50 per cent of energy use being generated from renewable sources by 2030.

She said that the country is seeing significant investment in the sector. “Fifty per cent of our energy sources should come from renewable energy…and the experts tell me that this is very doable,” she noted.

She was speaking at the launch of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona ‘Society for Future Policy Leaders’ recently, on the university’s campus in St. Andrew. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced last October that Jamaica will officially increase its target from the previous 30 per cent in the National Energy Policy.

He said at the time that pushing energy generation to a more “ambitious” 50-50 target in terms of fossil fuels and renewables “is in our national security interest, in our survival interest”.

Mrs. Williams said that ensuring a secure energy supply, by moving from total dependence on fossil fuel to more renewable sources, is in keeping with Vision 2030, the national development plan.

“In the Vision 2030, it simply said that Jamaica needs to have a stable, sustainable energy sector. That’s what we want,” she said.

The UWI Society for Future Policy Leaders, an initiative of the Department of Government, is geared towards training the next generation of leaders to draft policies.

Mrs. Williams noted that policies are “carefully labeled plans about how a nation can systemically implement the changes needed to improve the way of life of a people”.

She noted that “once you decide on what it is that you are going to advocate for [to become policy], and you write that paper, that’s not the end of it; in fact, that’s just the beginning”.

She noted that young people have a role to play in advocating for policy measures. “We can create the future that we want for Jamaica, but we can’t sit on the sidelines. We have to participate… .To get the attention of the policymakers, you have to do the work,” Mrs. Williams said.