Electricity in Jamaica in 2021

In the year 2021, Jamaica's electricity consumption was primarily from fossil fuels, with an energy generation of 3.64 TWh. A significant portion, slightly less than a third, came from gas at 1.49 TWh. Compared to the global average electricity consumption of 410 watts per person, Jamaica's consumption is noticeably lower. This could be due to several factors including the country's smaller population size, its warmer climate reducing the need for heating and its lower level of industrialisation. However, the heavy reliance on fossil fuels and gas for this electricity generation indicates a higher carbon footprint per unit of electricity generated. This could have several environmental impacts, including increased greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming, air pollution affecting health, and ecological damage from resource extraction.

Suggestions

As Jamaica seeks to increase its low-carbon electricity generation, there are several countries it could potentially learn from. For example, Brazil, a Caribbean near-neighbour, generates 94 TWh of electricity from wind, demonstrating the viability of widespread wind power usage in tropical climates. Also, Spain, a country with a similar average temperature and hours of sunshine to Jamaica, generates 54 TWh from nuclear energy and 40 TWh from solar. Spain's success with these clean energy sources shows that with the right investment and strategies, Jamaica can increase its low-carbon generation. Additionally, Australia's balanced mix of solar and wind energy at 48 TWh and 32 TWh respectively can be a useful model for Jamaica.

History

Looking back at the history of low-carbon electricity in Jamaica, the majority of its generation has come from biofuels. Since 1973, biofuels generation fluctuated, with noticeable increases in the early 2000s but also significant declines in certain years, like 1984. For instance, there was a decline from 0.1 TWh to -0.3 TWh between 1983 and 1984. Conversely, there was a notable increase of 0.2 TWh in 2000. Hydro power, on the other hand, has remained stagnant since 1973, with no changes recorded in our data. More recently, Jamaica made efforts to diversify its low-carbon energy mix by introducing wind power in 2011, with a small increase in generation in 2016, and solar power in 2019. However, these remained negligible in comparison to biofuels and hydro power.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

Data Sources