What is Jamaica doing to reduce climate change?
Pathways to climate change mitigation and stable energy by 100% renewables for a small island.
Some small islands are leading the way towards successful climate change mitigation by gradually replacing fossil fuels with renewable power from solar and wind, leading up to 100% replacement economically, and fulfilling the Paris Agreement of limiting the temperature rise to close to 1.5 degrees C. by 2050.
Islands, for example Jamaica, have isolated electrical systems with no outside source of backup power and the introduction of intermittent renewable sources creates situations of power fluctuations and load shedding. That is, solar doesn’t generate at night and wind turbines don’t generate when there is no wind, but both provide plentiful power when conditions are ideal.
Researchers have simulated including Battery Energy Storage Systems, BESS, using Li-ion batteries and shown them to be an economical solution and firm power supply to the power fluctuation problem (Faunce, et al., 2018).
Also, batteries with longer discharge capacities are decreasing in cost and are expected to be economical in 10 years.
A two-phase pathway was suggested in order to meet the Paris Agreement, in phase 1 from 2020 to 2030, a 30% integration of intermittent renewables with BESS backup, without economic hardship, the remaining firm power needs supplied by fossil fuels, that is, liquified natural gas and oil.
In phase 2 from 2030 to 2050 more renewable power can be added, along with more BESS, again to provide the firm power supply needed.
By 2030 the cost of battery storage is expected to drop greatly, such that the cost won’t be too much of a financial burden.
As fossil fuel powered electricity generators wear out, they can be replaced by renewable energy power plants (Chan, et al., 2020).
Jamaica intends to use renewable energy to generate half of its additional target of 1.6gigawatts of energy production by 2037 according to Jamaica’s Minister of Science, Energy & Technology Fayval Williams. The country plans to tender 500MW of renewable energy projects early in 2021 (Jackson, 2021).
We can economically replace our fossil fuel powered electricity generation with renewable energy sources, with battery storage providing additional power when needed, as Jamaica is demonstrating.
References:
Chen, A. A., Stephens, A. J., Koon, R. K., Ashtine, M., & Koon, K. M. K. (2020). Pathways to climate change mitigation and stable energy by 100% renewable for a small island: Jamaica as an example. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 121, 109671.
Faunce, T. A., Prest, J., Su, D., Hearne, S. J., & Iacopi, F. (2018). On-grid batteries for large-scale energy storage: Challenges and opportunities for policy and technology. MRS Energy & Sustainability, 5.
Jackson, S. (2021, March 24). Jamaica to tender 500MW of renewable energy projects. The Gleaner, Jamaica. Jamaica to tender 500MW of renewable energy projects | Business | Jamaica Gleaner (jamaica-gleaner.com)
