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Jamaica Energy Partners mulls EV charging station network

Published:Sunday | September 20, 2020 | 6:30 AMSteven Jackson - Senior Business Reporter
File 
Aerial view of Jamaica Energy Partners.
File Aerial view of Jamaica Energy Partners.

Jamaica Energy Partners, JEP, an operator of power plants and producer of electricity, is considering entering the electric vehicle charging market.

“Our group, having started the listed operations in the Dominican Republic, entry into Panama and Jamaica is a possibility because we have important operations here,” said Kevin Francis, director of strategic planning, facilities and IT.

JEP’s parent company, InterEnergy Holdings, is setting up a series of charging stations at hotels, shopping centres and gas stations in the Dominican Republic. But JEP did not say whether its approach here would be to own and operate the charging stations or simply provide the infrastructure.

“It is important to note that one of InterEnergy’s strategies is to introduce clean and renewable energy solutions in the regions we operate in,” said Francis.

In Jamaica, JEP manages and owns a 65MW, power plant in west Kingston and two power barges of 74MW and 50MW. JEP also manages Jamaica Private Power Company’s 60MW plant owned by InterEnergy since 2019.

Earlier this year, JEP’s largest customer, the Jamaica Public Service Company, to which it is contracted as a power provider for the national grid, announced that it plans to set up EV charging stations in 40-kilometre intervals. The rollout is still pending.

InterEnergy, in the meantime, is moving ahead with the Dom Rep stations, having ordered 350 EV charging stations valued at US$2.2 million, according to a statement from the American vendor, Blink Charging Company.

InterEnergy plans to install 500 charging stations in the Dominican Republic by 2021. It will have the first electric charging network across that nation, according to Blink.

The vendor also indicated that EV charging stations were also to be rolled out in the other three InterEnergy markets in the region.

“In addition to our work in the Dominican Republic, we are looking forward to expanding with InterEnergy in other territories where they operate, including Panama, Chile, and Jamaica,” said Michael Farkas, founder and CEO of Blink, in a release last month announcing the Dominican Republic deal.

InterEnergy’s four country operations together manage 1,250MW of capacity.

steven.jackson@gleanejrm.com