The road towards the implementation of the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Project (CREDP) will be clearly mapped out during the first workshop for the implementation of the project.

The workshop takes place in Guyana on 17-19 May 2004,  with participation from the intended beneficiary countries, the funding agencies and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

The project is being managed by Dr. Roland Clarke and it is intended to help Caribbean countries remove barriers to the increased use of renewable energies and reduce implementation costs thus reducing the Region's dependence on fossil fuels and contributing to the reduction of green house gas emissions.

The project is being executed by the CARICOM Secretariat during the period 2004-2007 and is funded by a grant of US $3.726 million from the Global Environment Facility, (GEF), through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the implementing agency. The project is also getting additional funds by a grant of US $2.2 million from the German Aid Agency, GTZ. These sums will be supplemented by in-kind contributions of US $5.631 million from participating countries, the CARICOM Secretariat, and the Global Sustainable Energy Island Initiative (GSEII) through the Organisation of American States (OAS).

CREDP is intended to meet four immediate objectives for the participating countries, namely supporting the implementation of policies, legislation and regulations that create an enabling environment for renewable energy development; demonstrating innovative financing mechanisms for renewable energy products and projects; building the capacity of selected players in the renewable energy field and putting in place an improved regional renewable energy information network.