Capacity Building for a Renewable Energy Workforce in Jamaica The Role of Academia

Transcription

1 Capacity Building for a Renewable Energy Workforce in Jamaica The Role of Academia Ruth Potopsingh PhD Associate Vice President- Sustainable Energy, University of Technology, Jamaica

2 Presentation Outline Overview (RE & EE, Training, Labour Force) Knowledge and skills gaps in Sustainable Energy How are we addressing the gaps? What are the prospects?

3 Sustainable Energy Affordable Reliable Accessible Clean Low Carbon Low PM Low SOX, NOX, Low in carcinogenic content ( e.g. MTBE ) Renewable Sources Energy Efficiency Energy Conservation Consumer empowerment

4 Renewable Energy Overview

5 Policy& Regulatory Framework- Jamaica National Energy Policy Vision Sub policies National Energy Action Plan (NEAP) Key Agencies Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) Water Resource Authority (WRA) Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) Ministry of Land Water Environment and Climate Change There Is a good Policy Framework foundation however gaps exist in Governance and administrative efficiency.

6 JPS SYSTEM CAPACITY MW Hydro 3% JPS Percent Mix of Fuel (MW) Wind % Solar 0% LNG HFO 0% ADO Hydro ADO 31% HFO 62% Wind LNG Solar LNG Source: David Cook JPS June 2014

7 Renew Plants Existing Hydros Existing Wind New Hydro Maggotty Awarded Solar Awarded Wind Waste to Energy Additional Solar Comm. Date JPS RENEWABLE POWER EXPERIENCE Capacity MW New Capacity Proposed Date Americas 14/4/15 TOTAL Source: D Cook JPS

8 Major RE Energy Projects(15/16) Blue Mountain Renewables (BMR) Jamaica will be constructing a 36.2 MW wind project- >US$ 90M Wigton Wind Farm erecting its 3 rd wind facility in Southern Manchester of 24MW (added to the existing 38.7MW ) - US$46M WRB Enterprises, through Content Solar Ltd will build a solar plant in Content Village, to deliver 20MW of solar power to the national grid. Investment of US$60M Projects expect to create 300 jobs during construction.

9 Other New RE Projects in Pipeline Hydro power (additional 28 MW) Biofuels - Biomass ( 50 MW from Bagasse) - Biogas - Ethanol - Biodiesel Waste to Energy

10 Energy Efficiency Projects Public Sector Programme Private Industry Initiatives Sector Programmes : Tourism (Chenact) Schools Programme

11 Other Live Energy Projects > 250 licenses under Standard Offer Contract for renewable energy generation signed and issued Net billing Primarily for solar power Private sources now account for just over 1 MW of electricity Energy Statistics Project- spearheaded by OLADE. Estimated costs of US$500,000 seeks to provide reliable and up-to-date data for the energy planning process Investment in the ESCO industry, an allocated $23 million Targeting 200 persons Introduce new business models to enable increased levels of investment in and implementation of EE and RE projects Boost dialogue among stakeholder groups.

12 Climate Change Nexus Small island states such as Jamaica are counted as most vulnerable to Climate Change, there is now increased awareness and environmental responsibility as the seriousness of the situation hits home. Improved accountability for CO2 emissions. Evaluation of green jobs now ongoing (MLSS)

13 Number of Persons Workforce Profile in Jamaica Jamaica s total Labour force is 1,310, % Male and 45.3 % Female -(Statistical Institute of Jamaica, Oct 2014) 400, , , , , , ,000 50,000 0 Total Labour Force by Age Group and over Age Oct-13 Oct-14 Major Industry Groups Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Construction Wholesale and Retail repair of Motor Vehicle and equipment Hotels and Restaurant services

14 Number of Persons Unemployment Rate Workforce Profile in Jamaica 350, , , , , ,000 50,000 0 Employed Labour Force by age group and over Oct-13 Oct Unemployment Rate by age Group and over Age Group Oct-13 Oct-14 (Statistical Institute of Jamaica, 2014)

15 Jobs Needs for the Green Economy Job Availability in Jamaica Certification Capacity Building Required Physicists low Yes Material scientists low no Environmental scientists medium N/A Electrical engineers high yes Energy managers/analysts low yes Mechanical engineers high yes Construction managers Electricians Construction Workers Power plant operators medium high medium yes yes yes PV installers low n/a (overseas) Site assessors low no

16 Job Projections Solar Industry Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago 1,221 to 4,968 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) job-years during construction, installation and manufacturing 46 to 237 FTE jobs during operation and maintenance (with a majority in solar PV) 800 additional FTE job-years in Energy Efficiency Engineers and designers, technicians and sales and customer service positions will be the hardest to fill. Study found that much of training in PV installation was done in-house ( Source :TNO and ASU December 2014 for BRIDGE IDB Funded )

17 Energy Training : Institutional Framework University Level Vocational and Technical Training Private Training High Schools Primary and Kindergarten NGO/ Community Based Organizations Ministries and Agencies of Government International Development Agencies Special projects University of the West Indies HEART Trust Vector All CSEC sitting All GSAT JSEE MSTEM USAID IDB EU OAS University of Technology Jamaica UTech Caribbean Maritime Institute PCJ Wigton Wind Farm Northern Caribbean University Development Bank of Jamaica College of Agriculture, Science and Education JPC BSJ

18 Institutions and Offerings UWI Mona Certificate Courses on Alternative Energy. M.Sc. in Renewable Energy Technology (UWI), St Augustine Campus MBA in Sustainable Energy Management M.Sc. in Renewable Energy Technology UWI Cave Hill Campus - Masters in Renewable Energy Management. UTech M.Sc. In Engineering Programme -specialization in Renewable Energy Engineering Solar PV Design and Implementation certificate. * Multidisciplinary Masters in Sustainable Energy and Climate Change (2016)

19 Institutions and Offerings Barbados Community College Recently acquired funding of US$ 800,000 to implement PV installation course. Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) Training in energy efficiency, equipment design and retrofitting HEART Trust NTA - 4 certificate courses University of Trinidad and Tobago through the Energy Institute of Trinidad and Tobago offers certificates, diplomas and degrees in energy related areas. University of Trinidad and Tobago

20 Skills Needed to sustain the Green Economy Major Focus skill areas High end skills -(engineers, researcher, designer etc) Entrepreneurship skills capability to learn and innovate Technical skills Generic skills Adjusting qualifications needs of industry have to be correlated with changes in academia curriculum. Needed in different degrees and varying levels. Should be tailored for specific areas of applicability.

21 Some Capacity Building Needs (Standard) In addition to training for skills identified in earlier slides: Training of Trainers is key Training and developing national capacity on implementing relevant standards Development of national conformity assessment providers Development of Analytical and Scientific capacity for future standard development

22 Americas 14/4/15 Stakeholders Existing workforce Utility companies Industry: Leading green tech companies Economic Sectors Other educational institutions Academia/ training hubs Government and policy makers Consumersinformed to an acceptable level Financial Institutions Non - governmental organizations

23 Recent graduates Established professionals Utility companies JPS NWC communications OAS GIZ OLADE Stakeholders Existing workforce Development Agencies Tourism Agriculture Transportation Construction Hospitality Economic Sectors Industry: Leading green tech companies GE Schneider Electric Philips Online Learning Platform Community colleges Other educational institutions Academia/ training hubs Government and policy makers Ministries (education, health) World Bank Financial Institutions IDB Non - governmental organizations Consumersinformed to an acceptable level The Nature Conservancy Climate Action Network Jamaica Solar Energy Association Residents Public sector Businesses Enterprise

24 Standards and Qualifications Each Institution uses its internal course development standards for RE and EE related educational programmes. UCJ is the accreditation body for Universities Lack of centralized framework and coordinated efforts for capacity building. National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) a National Qualifications Register 4 registered energy related courses.

25 Standards and Qualifications Internationally recognized certifications such as NABCEP, CEM are offered through local organizations or groups. Accreditation of labs

26 The (New) Role of Academia in the Caribbean Stakeholder engagement (match between training needs and offerings) Policy engagement with national leaders to guide them in respect of future trends Develop courses of study to meet social, economic and technology demands Be facilitators of innovation Conduct Research and Development (applied research) to match goal of sustainable development

27 Paradigm Shifts Need to make internal processes more responsive to societal needs Inter and intra institutional collaboration for value added training and learning View our training opportunities as being part of a global arena rather than for local/regional purposes Training of trainers to upgrade knowledge and skills Develop centres of excellence with state of the art specialist laboratories and share resources among institutions

28 Prospects Build greater awareness among stakeholders about Metrology and the job opportunities (2020) Collaborative training among and across academic institutions and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica Collaboration with International agencies Sharing of curricula Formalized network to share resources, experiences on a regular basis Accountability/reporting system to ensure achievement of goals

29 Conclusion Measuring and reporting existing capacity levels will ground current efforts and make it easier to plan future initiatives. Sustainable Energy education is a new exciting knowledge stream that requires well organized systems to ensure transformative development. Stakeholder inclusion is vital to the success of plans and programmes.

30 Thank you for listening

31 Contact: Ruth Potopsingh Caribbean Sustainable Energy and Innovation Institute (CSEII) University of Technology, Jamaica Old Hope Road Kingston 6 Ruth.Potopsingh@utech.edu.jm ruthpotopsingh@gmail.com