Registration & Coffee

CREF Opening Reception and Networking Cocktail

Featuring Welcoming Remarks

Join us as we open CREF’s first edition in Panama, welcoming the regional clean energy community alongside Panama’s Ministry of Environment.

• 

  H.E. Juan Carlos Navarro

  Republic of Panama
  Minister of the Environment

Creating Viable Business Opportunities Workshop

Hosted by The World Bank Group

• 

  María Camila Padilla

  The World Bank
  Senior Procurement Specialist Caribbean Procurement Coordinator, Private Sector Engagement Liaison for LAC, Region

• 

  Dr. Ashok Sarkar

  The World Bank
  Task Team Leader & Senior Energy Specialist

Registration & Networking

Chairperson Welcome

• 

  Gillian Charles-Gollop

  Caribbean Development Bank
  Vice President, Corporate Services

Caribbean Energy Sovereignty in a New Global Order

Across fuel markets, financing, and geopolitics, the ground has shifted significantly over the past 12 months. How does the new landscape impact the regional energy agenda?

• Can the region turn today’s volatility into momentum for energy sovereignty?
• Where is the Caribbean most exposed e.g. fuel supply, financing, technology, climate finance – and how do we mitigate, adapt and invest?
• Could deeper regional coordination improve the bid for sovereignty – and enhance resilience, affordability, and security?

• 

  Melanie Chen

  Caribbean Energy Chamber
  Founding Chair

• 

  Anton Edmunds

  Inter-American Development Bank
  General Manager, Caribbean Country Department

• 

  Dr. James Fletcher

  CARICOM | Global Green Growth Institute | REN21
  Climate Envoy | Council Member | Renewable Energy Champion for Latin America and the Caribbean

• 

  Dr. Mohammad Rafik Nagdee

  Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE)
  Executive Director

• 

  Rosilena Lindo Riggs

  Rosedan Consulting
  Founder and Global Energy & Climate Advisor Moderator
  

The CREF Ministerial: What Will Caribbean Governments Do Next?

Caribbean governments are being asked to deliver affordable power, hit transition targets, restore utility balance sheets, and rebuild after each storm, often with the same fiscal tools. What gets prioritized, what gets deferred, and where do governments need the private sector and the multilaterals to step up?

• How are governments balancing affordability, utility sustainability, and public confidence during transition?
• Where can regional cooperation reduce costs, build scale, increase resilience and accelerate delivery?
• Where does the next phase of reform need to go: tariff structure, regulatory independence, or procurement?

• 

  Hon. Mark A.G. Brantley

  Nevis Island Administration
  Premier

• 

  Hon. JoBeth Lillian Coleby-Davis

  Government of The Bahamas
  Minister of Energy, Utilities and Aviation

• 

  Dr. the Hon. Vince Henderson

  Commonwealth of Dominica
  Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy

• 

  Dr. Wendell Samuel

  Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
  Senior Advisor to the CARICOM Secretary-General | Assistant Secretary-General (ag) Economic Integration Innovation and Development

Networking Break

Capital Flows into Caribbean Energy: What’s Actually Getting Financed

Projects move when risk is shared, returns are credible, and the structure is clear. What financing structures are working in the Caribbean today?

• Where is capital flowing today and what technologies or business models are supporting appetite?
• How are corporate and industrial offtakers shaping project bankability, and where is demand emerging for private or behind-the-meter supply?
• Where do projects stall between concept, procurement, and financing,  and why?
• How is risk transfer and insurance evolving as storms get more frequent?
• What policy and regulatory updates are needed to increase the flow of private capital into regional energy projects?

• 

  Gerardo Aguilar

  Sygnus Capital USA
  Head of Climate and Energy

• 

  Tiago Favarin de Moraes

  Marsh Fac RE
  Head of Client Fac

• 

  Cheryl Senhouse

  Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator
  Finance Innovation Director

• 

  Dustin Delany

  Dentons
  Chair and Chief Managing Partner Moderator
  

Converting Institutional Support into Project Delivery

How can governments, utilities and developers better leverage the expanding range of tools on offer by DFIs, ECAs, MDBs and climate finance providers?

• How are bilateral lending, guarantees, and export credit tools being adapted for small island markets?
• What defines an implementation-ready pipeline from a lender or ECA perspective?
• How can smaller markets structure projects to meet procurement, resilience, and credit requirements?
• Where can regional coordination or aggregation strengthen outcomes?
• What role can blended finance play in crowding in private capital and reducing perceived market risk?

• 

  Roberto G. Aiello

  Inter-American Development Bank
  Principal Energy Specialist and Coordinator for the Caribbean

• 

  Neeltje de Visser

  GIZ
  Head of Program, NDC-TEC

• 

  Gabriela Elizondo-Azuela

  The World Bank
  Practice Manager, Energy Infrastructure, Latin America and the Caribbean

• 

  David Nygaard

  Export Development Canada (EDC)
  Chief Representative, Andean, Central America & Caribbean Region

• 

  María Vargas

  European Investment Bank
  Principal Advisor, Latin America and the Caribbean

• 

  Kiesha Farnum

  Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE)
  Head of Partnerships and Programmes Moderator
  

Networking Lunch

The Utility CEO Discussion: Modernizing the Grid Under Pressure

Utilities must modernize fast while integrating renewables, managing behind-the-meter growth, and holding tariffs. Live polling with expert commentary.

• What urgent adjustments to financing and regulatory approaches are necessary to keep utilities viable?
• Where does the next dollar of capex go: generation, storage, or T&D hardening?
• At what point does behind-the-meter solar stop being a contribution and start being a threat to utility solvency? What’s the cost-recovery model that works?
• What variable renewables penetration can your grid actually absorb today, and what has to change to push it higher?
• How can AI and digital tools help better forecast demand, manage intermittent renewables, dispatch storage and reduce outages for regional grids?

• 

  Delano R. Arthur

  Turks and Caicos Islands Government
  Commissioner, Energy and Utilities Department

• 

  Toni Cartwright-Pratt

  Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited
  Chief Executive Officer

• 

  Devon Cox

  Pelican Energy TCI
  President and Chief Executive Officer

• 

  Chong Suk Song

  World Bank Group
  Energy Specialist Moderator
  

The Right Partners: Who is Stepping Up?

With a more collaborative network of bilateral partners emerging, from Europe and Central America to leading energy and financial institutions, how can the region bring global capital, expertise and private sector commitment into the fold?

• Which international partners are increasing their focus on the Caribbean and why?
• How are hemispheric, and global actors repositioning themselves in the context of Caribbean energy and trade?
• Who’s actually showing up with capital and commitment?
• How does the Caribbean ensure that it sets the agenda rather than respond to someone else’s?

• 

  Dr. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales

  Panama Canal Authority
  Administrator

Networking Break

Redefining Energy Resilience

As Caribbean power systems evolve toward renewable, distributed, and digital architectures, the definition of resilience is changing. What does it mean to build a grid that can withstand shocks, adapt fast, and keep power affordable?

• What does resilience actually mean in a more distributed, renewable system — and how do we measure it?
• Which investments deliver the greatest impact: hardening, redundancy, storage, or flexibility?
• What role will microgrids, distributed generation, and digital tools play in next-generation systems?
• What will it take to move from pilot projects to systemic, island-wide resilience at speed?

• 

  Marsha Atherley-Ikechi

  OOCUR
  Executive Director

• 

  Eleanor Jones

  Generation Procurement Entity (GPE) Jamaica
  Member

Orchestrating the Distributed Grid: VPPs, DERMS & the Future of Caribbean Power Systems

As distributed energy systems accelerate across the region, utilities and regulators face a new challenge: how to coordinate increasingly decentralized grids while maintaining reliability, visibility, and system control.  Featuring lessons from the USVI and Puerto Rico, this session explores how tools such as virtual power plants and distributed energy resource management systems are bolstering island energy systems.

• Is distributed energy becoming the dominant growth model for Caribbean power systems?
• Can VPPs and DERMS transform customer-owned assets into dispatchable grid resources and  help utilities maintain visibility, dispatch control, and reliability?
• What lessons are emerging from the USVI and Puerto Rico experiences?
• What digital, regulatory, and market tools are needed to unlock customer participation, flexibility, and a more resilient Caribbean grid?

• 

  Christopher Burgess

  Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
  Director of Projects, Global South Program

• 

  Kyle Fleming

  Virgin Islands Energy Office
  Director

• 

  Agnes Crespo-Quintana

  Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS)
  Director, Caribbean Region Moderator
  

Awards Presentation & Showcase

Networking Cocktail Reception

CREF Fun Run + Net-walk

Registration and Coffee Networking

Disaster Preparedness & Business Continuity: Are Caribbean Utilities Ready?

Rise and Shine Roundtable

Where are island power systems most exposed when a major event hits, and what gaps in planning, coordination, supply chains and operational resilience still need to be closed?

• 

  Christina Becker-Birck

  Cadmus Group
  Vice President

Day Two Chairperson Welcoming

The Project Pipeline: What’s Moving, What’s Stuck & What’s Next

Which projects are progressing towards procurement, financing, and construction across the Caribbean?

• What structures are moving them forward?
• Where are projects being anchored by corporate or industrial demand, including behind-the-meter and private supply models?
• What barriers remain, and how are developers navigating them?
• Where are new opportunities emerging for investors and project partners?

• 

  Bruce Levy

  BMR Energy
  CEO and President

• 

  Stéphanie Nour

  Econoler
  International Director and Lead for Latin America and the Caribbean

• 

  Ricardo Rico

  ACERO Capital
  Head - Debt Capital Markets & Finance Moderator
  

Caribbean Geothermal: A Breakthrough Year

After years of commitment and setbacks, geothermal is entering a delivery phase. What enabled progress, and what comes next?

• What financing structures are working for geothermal in small island markets?
• What lessons from recent drilling and procurement should shape the next wave?
• How has political commitment driven progress? Which policy decisions mattered most?
• Where can new resources be developed next, and how can regional partners support scale-up?

• 

  Hon. Mark A.G. Brantley

  Nevis Island Administration
  Premier

• 

  Dr. the Hon. Vince Henderson

  Commonwealth of Dominica
  Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy

• 

  Christiaan Gischler

  Inter-American Development Bank
  Lead Energy Specialist

Networking Break

Marine Energy: Opportunity, Economics & Deployment Reality

Can offshore wind, nearshore FPV, and other marine technologies compete on cost and deliverability in Caribbean systems?

• Where can marine and offshore technologies realistically fit into Caribbean plans over the next decade?
• What are the advantages of nearshore FPV in the Caribbean?  What are the technology choices islands should evaluate for nearshore FPV?
• How do the economics compare with solar, storage, and grid upgrades already underway?
• Are ports, permitting, and technical capacity ready — and what risks remain underestimated?
• Can single-island projects move forward, or does marine energy only work at regional scale?

• 

  L. Nigel Burgess

  Regulatory Authority of Bermuda
  Head of Regulation

• 

  Jonathan Coony

  World Bank Group
  Senior Climate Finance Specialist

• 

  Kyle Farnum

  Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States and the OECS
  Programme Manager, Energy

• 

  Francisco G. Vozza

  Fred Olsen 1848
  Business Development Director, Floating Solar

Driving Renewable Energy Investment into Caribbean Industry and Productive Sectors

How can renewable energy investment strengthen Caribbean businesses, from major industrial users to fisheries, agriculture and smaller operators, and what support is needed to turn that demand into investable projects? Looking at three projects across scale and sectors, we investigate:

• Where is the strongest opportunity across mining, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, manufacturing and other productive sectors?
• Where are energy costs and reliability constraining productivity and competitiveness?
• What financing, technical assistance and risk-sharing tools can help productive businesses invest?
• Can demand across businesses or value chains be aggregated into replicable, commercially viable models with tangible economic and energy benefits?

Case Study 1: Major Industrial Demand: From Diesel Dependency to Hybrid Power — Aurora Gold Mine’s C&I Renewables Model

How is a remote mining operation using solar-plus-storage to reduce diesel dependence, strengthen energy resilience and support industrial production?

Ragunauth Ramsaroop, Liaison Director, AGM Inc., Guyana

Case Study 2: Manufacturing & Food Production: Renewable Energy for Cost and Resilience

How can solar, storage and energy-efficiency investment reduce operating costs, improve resilience and strengthen competitiveness for Caribbean manufacturers and food producers? What would make these investments easier to replicate across the sector?

Case Study 3: Smaller Productive Users: Renewable Energy Across the Fisheries Value Chain

What will it take to bring renewable energy into ice plants, cold storage, processing, aquaculture and other fisheries operations, and turn fragmented demand across smaller operators into viable investment opportunities?

Sherron Barker, Regional Project Coordinator, STAR-Fish, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism

• 

  Ragunauth Ramsaroop

  AGM Inc.
  Liaison Director

• 

  Sherron Barker

  Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism
  Regional Project Coordinator, STAR-Fish

Storage: The Operational Reality

• How much storage is needed and how should it scale alongside rising RE penetration?
• What are the most important considerations when assessing dispatch, ancillary systems and reserve capacity?
• What procurement and contract structures will enable deployment and cost recovery?
• Where are the operational  risks as storage becomes central to system reliability?

• 

  Rutu Dave

  The World Bank
  Senior Energy Specialist

• 

  Lennox Elvy

  Generation Procurement Entity (GPE), Jamaica
  Director

• 

  Colin Escalante

  Ministry of Finance, Belize
  Project Engineer, Central Executing Unit

CREF 2026 Take-Aways and Action Items for the Year Ahead

Networking Lunch