The United States is partnering with Caribbean countries in an initiative to build permanent, regional capacity in the area of renewable energies. The initiative focuses on acquiring and modeling Caribbean-specific data for use in planning and policy decisions for the development of a comprehensive renewable energy sector. The United States is also partnering American higher education institutions with the University of the West Indies to enhance research, expand higher education programs, and promote outreach to policy-makers across the region.
The United States contributes more than US$30 million per year to the region for activities such as:
- Eco-friendly power generation in National Parks to encourage the use of solar energy technologies
- Solar water heating awareness initiatives to encourage the use of solar water heaters in residential and commercial sectors, including tourism
- Solar power system demonstrations linked with power grids to provide small amounts of energy to evaluate its use and effectiveness
- Legal assistance in drafting geothermal resource legislation to advance preliminary assessments of constructing small scale geothermal plants
- Wind powered irrigation feasibility assessments to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of implementing wind power at pumping stations
- Solar power system for feasibility studies of net-metering to promote the use of renewable energy
- Wind turbine “farms” as a source of electricity generation in islands that are most suitable
- Electricity grid interconnection via sub-sea cables between islands
- Renewable energy internship opportunities in the United States for young professionals in the Caribbean region
Renewable Energy Project – Dominica
Wind turbines in Dominica are just one example of how renewable energies can replace fossil fuels as a source of electrical power generation in the Eastern Caribbean. With the support of the United States under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, many such turbines will be constructed.
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