EREC: A loan to finance Jamaica’s largest solar power plant

This financing has been allocated to the project company Eight Rivers Energy Company Ltd (EREC). The French developer NEOEN is the majority shareholder of Paradise Park. NEOEN is a major player in renewable energy’s around the world and in emerging countries, with a renewable energy capacity installed or under construction around the world of some 1.8 GW, including in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

This loan is contributing to the full financing of the construction, operation and maintenance of a solar power plant with a nominal capacity of 37 MW developed by NEOEN on the west coast of Jamaica. It is Jamaica’s 2nd and largest solar power plant. The commissioning of Paradise Park is scheduled for the first half of 2019. 

This power plant is located in the municipality of Westmoreland in the west of the island and will meet the needs for the diversification of the energy mix of the country, which is highly dependent on fossil fuels. It is part of the Government of Jamaica’s national strategy to reach a renewable energy generation capacity of 115 MW by 2030. The project should consequently avoid the emission of 110,000 tons of CO2 eq a year (i.e. 2.3 million tons avoided throughout the lifespan of the power plant).

The project should also reduce the price of electricity for users and create or maintain 1,445 indirect and induced jobs.