South Jamaica Power earns first CariCRIS investment-grade ratings

South Jamaica Power Company Limited (SJPC), which operates a gas-fired electricity facility in Jamaica, has received its debut credit ratings from CariCRIS, the Caribbean rating agency. The new grades put the company within investment-grade range and could strengthen its ability to raise financing in regional debt markets.

CariCRIS rated SJPC CariA- for foreign-currency obligations and CariA for local-currency debt on its regional scale. On the Jamaica national scale, the company received jmA+ and jmAA-. The agency also placed the outlook at stable.

SJPC owns the South Jamaica Power Centre, a 192-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant at Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine.

Jamaica Public Service (JPS) owns 49.8 per cent of SJPC through South Jamaica Energy Holdings Limited. JPS lifted its stake from 20 per cent in 2017 through a US$16-million deal.

The other shareholders are MaruEnergy, EWP (Barbados) 1 SRL, and the PetroCaribe Development Fund. MaruEnergy and EWP are linked to JPS parent shareholders Marubeni Corporation of Japan and Korea East-West Power, respectively, leaving the plant effectively under the same Japanese-Korean consortium that controls JPS.