Pumped hydro project in Jamaica draws international interest

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Jamaica has received proposals from a consortium of local and international companies to implement a proposed pumped hydro electric storage (PHES) project.

Prime minister Andrew Holness told the parliament last week that an ‘unsolicited’ proposal had been received to implement the project, which has not yet been approved by the government.

The pumped hydro project involves pumping desalinated seawater into elevated reservoirs using solar power, then feeding that water back down through a hydroelectric power turbine into downstream reservoirs for household use. The project is primarily being presented as a way to fix water shortages in some regions.

It is widely reported the power generation could be up to 200MWh annually and Holness said the project, along with other proposals, could increase Jamaica’s proportion of renewable electricity generation to 50% from 13% today.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

“The proposal is currently undergoing technical and due-diligence reviews. Subject to the satisfactory completion of those reviews, it is the intention of the Government to designated the project a Jamaica 60 National Development Project and enter into direct negotiations with the consortium, in order to fast-track its implementation,” he said, referring to this year being Jamaica’s 60th as an independent nation.

The country last made headlines in the energy storage world in 2019 when it commissioned a 24.5MW hybrid energy storage system comprising a lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) as well as high-speed and low-speed flywheels, first announced in 2017.

That project is located next to a substation operated by Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), the country’s sole electricity distributor, which called the wider microgrid project it is part of a “model for other countries in the Caribbean and beyond”.

Read Next

October 3, 2025
WaterNSW, the state-owned water supplier to New South Wales, Australia, has selected three dams as suitable sites for pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) developments.
October 2, 2025
The TSO of Italy has completed its first MACSE auctions for energy storage, procuring 10GWh of capacity at what the NHOA CEO called ‘exceptionally competitive prices’.
Premium
September 30, 2025
We catch up with executives from second life specialist BESS integrator Voltfang and investor Palladio Partners to discuss their recent €250 million (US$293 million) partnership to deploy projects in Germany.
September 26, 2025
Investment and IPP news from across Europe, with DTEK buying a BESS project in Poland, Ingrid inaugurating one in Sweden and Triodos investing in a German portfolio.
September 24, 2025
Just over 70% of the successful projects in the first window of the UK’s long-duration energy storage (LDES) scheme are using lithium-ion BESS technology.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter