Solar panels at the Renewable Energy Training Lab in Mandeville, Manchester.
Wigton Energy ramps up spending as it prepares for solar transition
WIGTON Energy reported a 16 per cent increase in operational expenses for the quarter as the renewable energy company prepares to transition into solar energy generation.
CEO Gary Barrow explained that while last year the company focused on efficiently running its wind farms, it has since made significant adjustments in preparation for growth and diversification. The company’s current energy portfolio is entirely wind-based, but it plans to add solar farms in the near future.
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“In that preparation we would have been spending more on marketing, repositioning the company, and we have hired several new staff members to assist with this transition,” Barrow said during a Mayberry Investor Briefing.
The company was recently awarded a 50-megawatt solar plant contract and will also repower its Wigton I facility by replacing the existing 20.7-megawatt wind capacity with 20.7 megawatts of solar energy. Barrow emphasised that customers stand to benefit significantly from this expansion, as the cost of solar energy continues to decline.
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“There will be a tariff advantage going with solar over wind at this time,” he said, adding that this shift will also increase Wigton’s total energy capacity.
After the transition, which is expected to take two years, the company will operate 40 megawatts of wind power and add 70 megawatts of solar capacity to the national grid. Wigton Energy is also ramping up its marketing efforts, which Barrow described as “prudent spending” aligned with the company’s strategic goal of growth through diversification. Wigton is now pushing aggressively into the commercial and industrial markets. It already started with the installations of solar panels at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. They are also working on a project at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, a hotel that he did not name, but he stated that work is being done with its joint partner IAC, and others will be announced soon. This move marks a shift from Wigton’s traditional focus on supplying power exclusively to the national grid through Jamaica Public Service Company. Looking ahead, the company expects further opportunities as the General Procurement Entity (GPE) prepares to release additional requests for proposals (RFPs) later this year or early next year.
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“We expect the GPE to come out soon with further RFPs this year, possibly going into next year, with significant requirements for additional solar and other forms of renewable energy to be sold to the grid. We intend to participate very aggressively in that space, as we did with the last RFP,” Barrow said.
The next round of procurement could involve as much as 168 megawatts of renewable energy. However, financing these large-scale projects remains a key consideration. Although Wigton Energy has reduced its debt levels, Barrow noted that the 50-megawatt and 20-megawatt solar projects will require a mix of debt and equity financing.
“We are still looking at our financing structure. We believe that it’s going to be somewhere between 20–30 per cent equity and 70–80 per cent debt financing. We will ensure that the mix of debt and equity is optimised, and that is something we will be doing over the next 3–6 months,” Barrow shared.
He also advised investors to anticipate changes in the company’s capital structure as these projects come to fruition. Although Wigton Energy currently has a strong balance sheet, Barrow cautioned that retained earnings would be held back for growth and investments, meaning investors should not expect significant dividend payouts in the near term.
Wigton Energy CEO Gary Barrow.
