ST GEORGE’S, Grenada -- A renewable energy workshop sponsored by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) will be held in Grenada on Tuesday, December 2, 2014. Representatives from both public and private sectors have been invited to participate and contribute valuable insights on issues surrounding renewable energy deployment in Grenada.

The workshop is an outcome of a European Union funded project entitled ‘Frameworks, Policies and Instruments for Mobilising Renewable Energy in the Caribbean.’ The main target countries are Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and St Kitts and Nevis. A primary objective is to facilitate a sustainable private-sector driven renewable energy sector.

The workshop will present a number of constructive deliverables such as a technology assessment tool, which is an online calculator to assist the private sector in sizing and costing renewable energy systems to meet their energy needs and a financing database to source critical financing needed for renewable energy projects. Policymakers will also have access to information tools which can assist in analysis of renewable energy programmes.

CaPRI is an economics focused think tank linked to the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Its mission is to promote ‘evidence-based policy dialogue within Caribbean societies’ and its vision is to make ‘the production of research work more relevant to the pertinent issues of economic development in the Caribbean’.

A team of experts from CaPRI and our public and private sectors will participate in the workshop and provide critical input. The half-day workshop will tackle real issues affecting Grenada’s energy sector and promises to be information filled and valuable in the relaying of vital information and tools that can contribute to better decision making and strategic planning.