Above: State Minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Julian Robinson at a Texaco station (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Texaco is planning to retrofit all of its service stations in Jamaica with solar energy.

The company has already invested about $45,000 adding solar panels to its Molynes Road operation in Kingston, something which has cut the company’s energy bill by about half.

The plan is to expand the programme to all 67 of Texaco’s service stations in Jamaica.

“We are pleased that Texaco has invested in renewable energy,” said Julian Robinson, State Minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining. “They have indicated that it has had a very direct impact on their electricity consumption, and the bills.”

Robinson said “the less you can spend on electricity, the more you can spend on improving your competitiveness.”

“With their partners, we will see more service stations and more importantly other businesses and consumers doing similar projects,” he said.

Jamaica’s government has been on a stated push to develop the green fuels sector on the island, with the Development Bank of Jamaica offering energy loans to purchase green systems like solar panels and wind turbines, among others.

“All these have been put in place to facilitate easier uptake of energy loans,” said Ernesto Wignall, account executive for loan origination at the DBJ.