The CARICOM Energy Policy and Regulations Help Desk aims to provide CARICOM Member States with the required technical support to develop an enabling environment to accelerate the Sustainable Energy transition.

To realise this mandate, the CARICOM Energy Policy and Regulations Help Desk will facilitate the provision of technical assistance services for:

The modernisation of energy policies and legislation as well as the implementation of actions/programmes consistent with national policy objectives and;

The review or modernisation of regulatory frameworks, regulatory support and electric utility services.

The CARICOM Secretariat through the Technical Assistance Programme for Sustainable Energy in the Caribbean (TAPSEC), is providing technical support to Member States for the development and modernisation of the enabling environment for sustainable energy. Support is provided through the establishment of the CARICOM Policy and Regulations Help Desk which will facilitate the provision of technical assistance services to CARICOM Member States directly, thereby contributing to the development of an effective enabling environment to support the Sustainable Energy transition of each member state.

Objectives

The objectives of the CARICOM Policy and Regulations Help Desk are to:

  Provide a facility for CARICOM Member States to submit requests for Technical Assistance under the general framework of Policy and Regulation and receive support for the preparation/finalization of Terms of Reference framework for defining technical assistance and support required
  Provide direct technical assistance for the modernisation of National Policy, Legislative and Regulatory frameworks of CARICOM Member States.
  Provide direct technical assistance to CARICOM Member States for the implementation of actions/programmes that are consistent with National Policy directives in the energy sector.

Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes of the CARICOM Policy and Regulations Help Desk are:

  The delivery and provision of on-demand support and technical assistance to CARICOM member states and other institutions within the CARICOM Region to develop an enabling environment for sustainable energy.
  Revised or updated Policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks for CARICOM Member States.
  Support towards the implementation of programmes and actions to meet national policy objectives.

Components

The CARICOM Policy and Regulations Help Desk consists of three (3) components:

  The Oversight Committee (OC), which will provide guidance and steering on the functions of the Help Desk.
  The Application Review Facility (ARF) which will receive, review and evaluate applications for Technical Assistance under the Help Desk.
  The Expert Consulting Pool (ECP) from which consultants will be deployed to provide direct technical support to selected applicants in accordance with an estiablished Terms of Reference.

Support under the Help Desk is divided into two (2) Lots. Lot 1 provides Policy Support to  institutions requesting technical assistance for the modernisation of energy policies and legislation as well as the implementation of actions/programmes consistent with national policy objectives. Lot 2 provides Regulation and Utility support to institutions requesting technical assistance for the review/modernisation of regulatory frameworks, regulation support and electric utility services. Member states and institutions requesting technical assistance for the modernisation of energy policies and legislation as well as the implementation of actions/programmes consistent with national policy objectives will submit applications under Lot 1. Member states and institutions requesting technical assistance for the review/modernisation of regulatory frameworks, regulation support and electric utility services will submit applications under Lot 2.