Caribbean Solar Financing Project

One of the key preconditions for the development of a vibrant market for solar hot water systems (SHWS) in the Caribbean Islands of Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia is the availability of sufficient and reliable financing made possible through an educated and informed financing infrastructure. In 2002, the estimated combined sales for the two firms that supply the majority (over 90%) of the SHWS in these three islands was 540 systems with 337 systems sold in St. Lucia, 105 systems sold in Grenada, and 98 systems sold in Dominica.

Although one bank in St. Lucia and both solar hot water heater firms have at various times in the past offered short-term credit options to finance the purchase of SHWS, such financing packages have failed to attract buyers from the middle-income elements of the population. Discussions with the two firms and their distributors, local credit unions and banks, and government officials indicate that middle income customers require medium-term financing to make SHWS affordable and prefer to access credit for purchases through the credit unions where the majority already meet their other banking needs.

The Caribbean Solar Finance Program (CSFP) is designed to measurably reduce the constraints on, and increase the capacity for, financing of SHWS in the three islands while at the same time helping build awareness among the middle income segments of the population on the benefits of SHWS. The CSFP team proposes activities in three thematic areas to address the challenges to developing a sustainable market for SHWS in Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia: 1.) training lending personnel, 2.) provision of long-term credit, and 3.) a consumer awareness campaign.

Progress:

St. Lucia Solar Hot Water Heating Financing Program

The pioneer of this program, St. Lucia, launched this initiative in May of 2005. Since then, progress has been made in each of the thematic areas mentioned above.

In September 2005, the UNIDO-GSEII team held a training course for representatives of St. Lucia's credit unions. Designed to familiarize participants with solar hot water heating technologies and financial methods facilitating their purchase among customers, the course was successful in promoting a system in which this alternative heating technology may be utilized in years to come. To notify customers of these activities, two radio and two television interviews were broadcast during this visit, among other initiatives of the UNIDO-GSEII team to ensure that public awareness was achieved.

Grenada Credit Union Solar Hot Water

The launching of this program is planned for September 2006.

Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Development Project

In the Caribbean, in addition to St. Lucia, Grenada and Dominica, where Sustainable Energy Plans are in the implementation stage, GSEII partners expanded their work in St. Kitts & Nevis through the Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Development Project, or the “Geo-Caraïbes,” which is led by the Organization of American States (OAS), and seeks to overcome the barriers to the development of geothermal power in the Eastern Caribbean. The Project seeks to catalyze the development of one or more geothermal power plants that might export electricity to several islands of the region, including Guadeloupe and/or Martinique.

The Geo-Caraïbes seeks to catalyze commercial geothermal energy projects in St. Lucia, Dominica, and St. Kitts and Nevis with the expectation that regional power independence will contribute significantly to economic and environmental sustainability in the region.

Geo-Caraïbes will achieve this goal by supporting market reforms that improve the market conditions for geothermal power in these countries, including: establishing a transparent proactive and commercially sound geothermal policy and legal environment, furthering geothermal resource/technical studies for commercial investment pre-selection, conducting the technical evaluation and establishing the institutional arrangements for the export of geothermal power to Martinique and/or Guadeloupe, creating a US$10M Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Energy Drilling Risk Fund, and organizing a process to attract/negotiate with world class geothermal project developers to invest in projects It is expected that a large quantity of geothermal energy capacity (60-120MW) will be developed, and that the resulting power will offer the host countries a low-cost power solution while generating substantial income as an export to Martinique and/or Guadeloupe, via submarine electricity transmission cables.

Geo-Caraibes Presentation (PDF, 3.8 MB)