Soleco gets approval for three solar projects

RENEWABLE ENERGY firm Soleco Limited has received planning approval to build out three renewable power plants for commercial entities.

The projects are based in Freetown, Clarendon; Linstead, St Catherine; and Newport Crescent, Kingston. They represent one of the first set of renewable projects for the start-up entity which provides renewable solutions to clients.

The company headed by businesswoman Angella Rainford declined to comment on the three plants, citing client confidentiality.

The projects received planning approval from the National Environment & Planning Agency in September.

Rainford is well known in Jamaica’s energy market as the conceptualiser and investor in a large solar plant at Paradise Park, a project pursued through her other company, Rekamniar Limited. Paradise Park, which is located in Westmoreland, sells power to the national electricity grid operated by Jamaica Public Service Company, to which it is contracted as an independent power provider.

Soleco, on the other hand, provides solutions to private clients to reduce their energy costs.

The size of the three projects were not disclosed, but are designed to generate more than 200 kilowatts of power.

In April, Rainford indicated that two solar renewable projects were in the pipeline for 2021, but the planning approvals indicate a third renewable project was added.

Rainford said Soleco would install the solar panels onsite, under lease-purchase agreements, and would retain ownership of the equipment until clients pay off the loans. The clients have exclusive use of the plant, she said then.

The partners in Soleco remain undisclosed. Its board include retired head of the GraceKennedy conglomerate Douglas Orane and Chairman of the PanJam property and investment conglomerate Stephen Facey.

Rainford previously explained that the demand for solar continues to rise but Government tenders for new additions to the electricity grid have not happened since 2015, thereby limiting growth opportunities for renewable energy producers. Consequently, Soleco was formed to tap into demand from commercial and industrial clients who want renewable energy in small enough portions, requiring no government tender.

The company raised debt to fund the projects amid the pandemic, signalling that lenders are willing to back the renewables sector, Rainford previously said.

Soleco, which operates from Kingston with five employees, is focused on solar, but has said it will also consider hydro projects.