In a previous blog, I discussed the value of pumped-storage hydro systems, especially when it comes to integrating intermittent renewable energies like wind and solar into a power system. However, traditional pumped-storage hydro systems require two reservoirs of fresh water (one upper and one lower), which are not always available at locations that might otherwise benefit from an energy storage system. An exciting technology that tackles this problem – requiring only one on-land reservoir – and that has gained recent momentum is seawater pumped-storage hydro.
An aerial view of the seawater pumped-storage hydro system on Okinawa Island (Source: wastedenergy.net)
Seawater pumped-storage hydro works similarly to traditional systems. Excess electricity from fossil fuel, nuclear, or renewable energy power plants is used during periods of low power demand to pump water uphill to be stored in reservoirs as potential energy. Then, when demand peaks the reservoirs are opened, allowing water to pass through hydroelectric turbines to generate the electricity needed to meet power demand. The main difference for seawater pumped-storage is that instead of having a lake, river, or some other source of fresh water serve as the lower reservoir, these systems pump salt water uphill from the ocean to a land reservoir above. This lowers the system’s fresh water footprint and greatly expands the potential for pumped-storage hydro worldwide because seawater pumped-storage is much less site-specific than traditional systems.
There is currently one seawater pumped-storage hydro system operating in the world, on the northern coast of Okinawa Island, Japan. The system began operation in 1999 and has the potential to generate up to 30 megawatts (MW) of power. The hydropower plant has a total head – the vertical distance, or drop, between the intake of the plant and the turbine – of 136 meters and the upper reservoir is located just 600 meters from the coast.
The winds of change are blowing in Haiti’s energy sector. President Joseph Martelly identified four priorities for his term: education, employment, environment and rule of law (Education, Emploi, Environnement, Etat de Droit – four “E”s in French). Last month, as the President attended a workshop on energy organized by Rene Jean-Jumeau, the recently nominated Secretary of State for Energy, he added energy as the fifth “E”. He emphasized the impact of the current energy situation on Haiti’s decreasing forest cover as trees are cut for the production of charcoal, and the importance of transitioning to a modern and resource efficient energy supply. President Martelly concluded, “Electricity is needed to develop Haiti’s industry, and cast away the darkness of moonless nights.” This added priority was also reflected in the general policy statement from the Prime Minister Garry Conille on October 11th, where he mentioned the development of alternative sources of energy (notably) and the improvement of the country’s electricity supply as national priorities.
Haiti’s energy sector is marked by very low per/capita energy consumption, a very low electrification rate, a high dependency on fossil fuels with the highest energy intensity in the whole Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, and high supply prices. Haiti’s energy sector is primarily reliant on charcoal, which represents 75 percent of the country’s final energy consumption and, along with fuel wood, often constitutes the only source of energy for households living in rural areas. Intensive use of charcoal has been hugely detrimental to the vegetation cover of Haiti. Over 70 percent of Haiti’s 10 million people live without access to the electricity grid, which has led President Martelly to comment, “in terms of energy, Haiti is still in the Middle Ages.” About 63 percent of electricity generation in the country is based on imported diesel fuel, mainly from Venezuela. Hydropower constitutes 37 percent of the country’s electricity generation. A recent WorldBank/Nexant report identified imported distillate to be the most expensive fossil fuel resource option for Haiti in the future, after LNG and coal, with a forecasted levelized price of US $22.45/GJ over 2014-2028.
Mr. Gerald Lindo is a Senior Energy Engineer with the Ministry of Energy & Mining in Jamaica
From left to right: Fitzroy Vidal, Senior Director, Energy, Ministry of Energy & Mining; Honorable Laurence Broderick, MP; Mark Konold, Caribbean Energy Roadmap Project Manager, Worldwatch; Gerald Lindo, Senior Energy Engineer, Ministry of Energy & Mining
On September 19th, a group of engineers met in Kingston, Jamaica during the Annual Conference of the Jamaica Institute of Engineers (JIE) to discuss the future of Jamaica’s energy sector. This year, the first two days of the week-long event were devoted entirely to discussing the country’s energy challenges and the way forward. The Principal Director of the Energy Division in Jamaica’s Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM), Mr. Fitzroy Vidal, gave one of the keynote speeches detailing Jamaica’s National Energy Policy (NEP) and the progress towards its implementation.
It was a brisk and upbeat meeting, and Mr. Vidal’s speech was well received. Questions abounded on the direction of Jamaica’s energy sector and on the proposed considerations of innovative green technology solutions aimed at ensuring the country’s energy security and long term sustainability. However, underneath the cordiality and spirit of the conference was a smouldering worry, an elephant in the room: the tremendous price that Jamaicans pay for electricity.
Recently I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at this year’s Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF), held in Bridgetown, Barbados. The two-day conference was a uniquely productive session that brought together more than 300 participants from 37 countries, including 11 government ministers. The exceptional vigor that the conference brought to the discussion was facilitated by a format that prioritized open, free form discussion over prepared remarks. I spoke on the last panel of the conference which analyzed the progress, problems and prospects of renewable energy development in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. I had the pleasure of being joined by technical specialists and representatives from both countries’ governments and the World Bank. I would especially like to highlight the contributions of our dear friend, Julián Despradel, whose work as the Coordinator of the Projects Division, in the Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency Department of the Dominican Republic, I greatly admire.
Worldwatch researchers recently returned from Haiti as a part of the Energy Roadmaps for the Caribbean Project. One exciting idea that grew out of our meetings with government, utility, and private sector officials is the potential for wind and pumped-storage hydro systems on the island of Hispaniola.
A wind and pumped-storage hydro system is an old technology with a new twist, and it is a technology that is being explored on several small islands around the world.
A model of the wind and pumped-storage hydro system on El Hierro (Source: ThomasNet News and Gorona del Viento El Hierro)
For the past half century, countries including the United States have used excess electricity from fossil fuel and nuclear power plants during periods of low power demand to pump water uphill to be stored in reservoirs as potential energy. Then, when demand peaks the reservoirs are opened, allowing water to pass through hydroelectric facilities to generate the needed electricity to meet power demand.
As previously reported, members of Worldwatch’s Climate and Energy team made the first country visit to Jamaica as part of the institute’s Caribbean Low-Carbon Roadmap work. During that visit I had the opportunity to visit Wigton Wind Farm, the island’s largest grid-tied, utility-scale wind power facility. Situated on the southern tip of the Don Figuerero Mountains, not far from the southern coastal town of Alligator Pond, the wind farm offers good lessons for successful promotion of renewable energy in Jamaica and how such projects are in the country’s best interests. But it has also shined a light on obstacles that should be resolved as the country pursues more renewable energy projects.
The entrance at Wigton Wind Farm in Manchester, Jamaica.
Wigton Wind Farm is actually composed of two separate projects, one built in 2004 and the other in 2010. The first phase – or Wigton I as it is referred to – comprises 23 NEG-Micon 900/52 turbines, each with an installed capacity of 900 kilowatts (kW). The second phase, Wigton II, consists of 9 Vestas V80 turbines, each with an installed capacity of 2 megawatts (MW). Their respective capacity factors are 35 percent and 33 percent, which means together they generate around 115 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per year. In total the wind farm is expected to offset 60,000 barrels of oil per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 85,000 tons.
Wigton Wind Farm is a subsidiary of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), a state energy corporation housed within Jamaica’s Ministry of Energy and Mining. Dr. Raymond Wright, a former managing group director at PCJ, became Wigton’s first strong supporter in the late 90’s. When construction started in 2004, PCJ was fortunate in securing a good location for the project. Much of the land on which the wind farm is sited is owned by Alcoa, which is the managing partner of Jamalco, a partnership between the Jamaican government and Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica. There is still enough land to build a possible third phase of Wigton just to the north of the first two project locations. This remaining land also happens to be located in an area that, according to studies, is a strong wind resource. A quick look at 3TIER Inc.’s Dashboard tool shows that the area has an annual mean wind speed around 8 meters per second (m/s).
As part of Worldwatch’s Caribbean Low-Carbon Energy Roadmap project, Climate & Energy Director Alexander Ochs and I made our first country visit to Jamaica. The trip, ten days in total, was a chance to formally meet with project partners at the Jamaican Ministry of Energy and Mining and other governmental departments as well as with stakeholders from across all sectors that are important to the country’s energy future. Throughout the visit, many issues came up repeatedly, including working with the IMF, net billing vs. net metering,calculation of avoided costs as it pertains to renewable energy projects and power purchase agreements, and the cost of taking out a loan for renewable energy investments. All of this led to a very clear initial observation: Jamaica is facing a serious energy crisis, one that can only be tackled with massive investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and smarter grid solution.
(L to R) Gerald Lindo, Fitzroy Vidal, and Minister Clive Mullings of Jamaica's Ministry of Energy & Mining with Worldwatch's Mark Konold and Alexander Ochs
Jamaica’s GDP is currently around USD $13 billion. In 2010, the country spent USD $1.6 billion on fossil fuel imports, roughly 12 percent of its GDP. That figure was as high as 20 percent before the global economic crisis and it is likely to return to that level as oil prices continue their overall upward trend. Despite enormous renewable resources, fossil fuels comprise 91 percent of the island’s energy source. This dependency on fossil fuels plays a major role in a consumer’s utility bill, or “light bill” as it is commonly called. Currently, consumers pay roughly USD $0.38 to $0.40 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity. By comparison, electricity rates in the U.S. average around $ 0.10 per kWh. As the burden of expensive electricity persists, there is growing support for the government to take action. As Hillary Alexander, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Energy and Mining, told us, “We need solutions that are practical, implementable and beneficial for the people of Jamaica – and we need them now!”
Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping is playing a vital role inWorldwatch’s Low-Carbon Energy Roadmap project in the Dominican Republic. 3TIER – a company that performs renewable energy risk analysis and develops high-resolution mapping – has assisted Worldwatch by providing GIS data and maps for solar and wind resources in the Dominican Republic.
GIS mapping begins with a simple geographic map of a real-world location. Then, any number of datasets can be added to this baseline map, taking the form of additional map layers. Often, GIS maps are interactive. Users can change the amount of information they see in a map as well as zoom in and out.
The Dominican Republic ismaking strides in promoting renewable energy as a way to reduce its heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels. As part of our work collaborating with government and private stakeholders to develop low-carbon energy roadmaps for the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries, the Worldwatch Institute is conducting socioeconomic impact assessments for planned and potential renewable energy projects, focusing on solar and wind for the current stage of the analysis. The Dominican Republic has several solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power projects lined up, and the renewable resource potential to significantly expand on these investments. Examining the job creation potential of these renewable energy projects is an important first step toward understanding the full scope of benefits that renewable energy can provide, especially with high levels of unemployment in the Dominican Republic – 14.2 percent in 2010.
A worker installs solar PV rooftop panels.
Despite a rapidly growing economy (7.8 percent GDP growth in 2010), about half of the Dominican population lives below the poverty line. One reason that economic growth has failed to translate fully into widespread socioeconomic benefits is the Dominican Republic’s dependence on fossil fuel imports. The Dominican economy is highly susceptible to oil price shocks, with oil imports accounting for 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, down from 9 percent during the global price spike in 2008. Domestic renewable generation can reduce economic vulnerability due to reliance on fossil fuel imports, but can it create enough jobs to tackle the country’s unemployment and improve the standard of living?
This week the Dominican Republic began official operation of a new transmission line running between its two largest cities, Santo Domingo and Santiago. This comes on the heels of the Inter-American Develop Bank’s recent approval of two loans totaling US $78.3 million for two new wind farms in the country. These new developments complement last month’s announcement from the Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE) introducing a new net metering regulation. All three advancements are great steps towards addressing issues of electricity stabilization and increasing consumer participation in the move towards widespread use of renewable energy.
A towering improvement for the Dominican Republic's electricity infrastructure.
The new 345 kilovolt (KV) transmission line is the first of its kind in the country. The national grid, divided among three regional operators, is composed mostly of 69 KV transmission lines with 135 KV lines in some of the more populated and tourist-oriented areas of the country. The new transmission line is supported by two substations and spans the 130 km between Santo Domingo and Santiago. It is overseen by the country’s electricity transmission company, Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Dominicana (ETED), and came at a cost of just over USD $170 million. Officials hope that it will help alleviate unreliable electricity in the Cibao Valley region. It also helps prepare the country to handle new generation capacity soon to come online, including both wind and solar projects.
Some of that new capacity is expected to come from the two IADB-funded wind farms. In total they are expected to add 80.6 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the country’s overall capacity. The 50 MW Parques Eólicos del Caribe will be located in Guanillo, in the Monte Cristi province, and is expected to cost US $127 million. Meanwhile, Grupo Eólico Dominicano, will develop a wind farm in Baní, in the province of Peravia. The 30.6 MW project has an estimated cost of US $68.9 million.
