IRENA and partners pilot for the first time at a regional level a system to encourage investment in geothermal projects

The Caribbean is blessed with sun-soaked beaches, calm coastal waters, and a laidback vibe, but beneath its serene shores lies a vast and largely unexplored source of low-carbon energy. Geothermal energy potential across the Caribbean’s 700 or so islands, islets, reefs, and cays is significant.

To date, however, accessing that energy has been a challenge, due to high exploration costs and a corresponding lack of investment certainty. As a consequence, the resource remains largely underexplored, but new joint-efforts led by IRENA are changing that, and in turn, helping the Caribbean to increase energy security and meet national and international commitments to low-carbon energy development.

A workshop co-organised IRENA, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the World Bank, and the International Geothermal Association represented a starting point. Held in Castries, Saint Lucia, the workshop brought together 60 key experts and geothermal energy decision-makers from across the Caribbean to discuss challenges and co-develop solutions to advance geothermal development.

Saint Lucia’s Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, Honourable Stephenson King attended the opening of the meeting. He said an opportunity now existed for a strategic and collaborative approach to developing geothermal resources in the region. He encouraged countries in the Eastern Caribbean to speak with one cohesive voice and to work towards establishing a geothermal industry vision across the region, highlighting that advantages exist by pooling resources together.

The workshop is aligned with other efforts IRENA conducts with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) — a worldwide collection of island states particularly at risk to climate change, and keen to find global solutions with renewables. In September, during the United Nations General Assembly, IRENA with its SIDS partners launched the ‘SIDS Lighthouses 2.0 Initiative’ — an update to the IRENA-led initiative that helped deploy over 120 megawatts of renewable electricity and mobilize USD 500 million in funding for SIDS, two years ahead of schedule.

Original source: IRENA
Published on 20 December 2018