The Renewable Energy Industry in CARIFORUM Countries

COUNTRY INDICATOR ANALYSIS

4.5 | ECONOMIC LINKAGES OF THE RE INDUSTRY

The development of a sustainable energy sector necessitates the enabling of the entire environment that supports and depends on it. The energy product underpins every sector of the economy whether in the form of electricity, transportation or other business and personal activities. During this period when countries are seeking to transform their energy sectors, the RE industry has gained some prominence. Transformation reaches beyond utilities, IPPs and prosumers and touches all sectors of the economy. However, the greatest impacts will occur across key sectors. Consequently, planning is performed with these key sectors in mind so that resources are maximized while pursuing national objectives in multiple sectors. For this reason, a multi-criteria analysis is normally applied to all major projects being performed by government and more and more in the private sector entities. It is also hoped that this transformation will build new capacity and bring more RE and EE jobs to the economies in the region as well as lower energy costs that will allow MSMEs to provide

goods and services more competitively and in a cleaner environment. While this offers hope to the challenged export sectors, it will also provide opportunities within the local energy sector and the wider economy, depending on the national strategy of each country. For those investing in a vibrant local RE industry, the RE transformation ensures the long-term sustainability of the industry as well as the spreading of economic benefits across the business community. All the documented national energy policies acknowledge the broad-based impact of energy transformation and point to the economic linkages between the RE industry and the key economic sectors. This has facilitated a more coherent and harmonized approach to achieving their country’s energy goals along with other sectoral goals. Those sectors with themost potential for economic benefits for the region are shown in the figure below.

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The Renewable Energy Industry in CARIFORUM Countries