The Renewable Energy Industry in CARIFORUM Countries

RENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDER ASSESSMENT

3.17.1 | INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was established in 1959 to support the process of economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has been the main source of multilateral financing to this region for several years. The IDB Group provides solutions to development challenges by partnering with governments, companies and civil society organizations, thus reaching its clients ranging from central governments to businesses. The IDB lends money and provides grants using established financial mechanisms that play an important role in mobilizing additional resources required for RE and EE actions including but not limited to:

• Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Funds • Climate Investment Funds (CIF) • Global Environment Facility (GEF) • Resources under the Kyoto Protocol (CDM) • Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) • Voluntary markets • A range of lending and technical assistance programs

IDB is actively involved in the region in technical corporation, co-financing, procurement and related processes. They have expressed the desire to see more financing done for pilot projects which they believe would encourage more widespread RE implementation. They do primarily low interest financing and a limited amount of grants. They also encourage the support of horizontal linkages to the RE/EE sector with tourism as a major sector. One initiative was the CHENACT project which included EE in hotels across the region. Funding for projects and businesses is usually up to $750,000 with the access criteria being applied by the implementing institution. National support is provided on a demand basis and IDB’s normal mode is to work with governments to support their energy plans and to not engage businesses directly. They are usually very involved in developing the projects and programmes they plan to support. IDB has recognized that traditional risk assessment by the bank will require more creativity since many economies have been setback during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have committed between $200M and $300M to the region annually until 2030. Since the funded areas depend on each country’s request, there is a measure of control for each qualifying government.

The Renewable Energy Industry in CARIFORUM Countries

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