Guest Editorial

5 ways to decarbonize national oil companies in Latin America and the Caribbean

By: Paola Carvajal, Javier García, Carlos Sucre and Christiaan Gischler, IDB The global hydrocarbon industry has been a long-time pillar of energy systems supplying in 2018 around 54% of global primary energy. This supply comes at a high cost in terms of carbon emissions as it accounted for 56% of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions […]

How do we close the energy sector gender gap?

By Virginia Snyder, Energy Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank As the global power sector becomes cleaner and more technologically advanced, there is one critical area which lags: diversity and gender equality.  Globally, women represent only 20 percent of the energy sector workforce.  Across Latin America and the Caribbean, women account for only 17 percent of senior […]

For Puerto Rico, how many stakeholders are too many? Former energy regulator considers island’s recovery and future

Jóse Román Morales, former Chairman of Puerto Rico’s Energy Commission, sat down with New Energy Events recently and shared his views on the resilience of the newly reconstructed grid, impediments to investment, and the independence of the new Energy Bureau. Do you believe that Puerto Rico’s reconstructed grid is better able to withstand and recover […]

Why resiliency changes the investor view on the Caribbean energy sector

Guest Editorial written by Doug Hewson, Managing Partner, Portland Private Equity As we enter the 2018 hurricane season, we are beginning to understand how last year’s monumental storms have impacted private equity’s view on the Caribbean energy sector. It’s no secret that the regional energy sector has many issues: reliance on fossil fuels, sub-scale markets, and […]

Puerto Rico: Transparency and the Importance of an Independent Regulator

    Guest Editorial written by Tomás J. Torres Placa, Executive Director of the Institute of Competitiveness and Economic Sustainability Puerto Rico finds itself at a critical juncture in its history. The island has an unprecedented opportunity to transform its electric system by integrating more diverse and renewable generation sources and creating a competitive and […]

Guyana’s oil boom and how the private sector can catalyze transformation

Guest Editorial written by Sally Yearwood, Executive Director of Caribbean Central America Action. The emergence of Guyana as the new frontier for oil and gas exploration has brought the South American nation to the threshold of unprecedented economic expansion. Current estimates of the three wells that have been confirmed thus far suggest that Guyana could be producing 500,000 […]

Solar and wind prices in Caribbean showing steady decline

The Caribbean renewable energy sector continues to grow as offtakers take advantage of declining prices, the region’s abundance of renewable resources, and ambitious governmental policies that seek to promote the uptake of renewable energy and the phase out of fossil fuel usage. Data for completed utility-scale solar and wind projects in the Caribbean display a […]

Moïse Poised to Modernize Rural Haiti with Clean Energy

Guest Editorial, written by Allison Archambault, President of EarthSpark International The Haitian countryside is beautiful and full of potential. The lack of electricity, however, is debilitating. Haiti’s new President, Jovenel Moïse, has announced that he will prioritize the issue of electricity during his tenure.  Making good on his statements around rural electrification would make Moïse […]

Microgrids in the Caribbean: Nothing micro about the opportunity

Guest Editorial, written by Kaitlyn Bunker, Ph.D., Rocky Mountain Institute – Carbon War Room Energy systems around the world are witnessing a shift towards smaller, more sustainable, and more accessible electricity generation and connection options. Microgrids are at the center of this fundamental change, bringing new and innovative business models to the traditional energy model. […]