Cleaner, cheaper Energy linked to Economic Stability says CDB President

#TurksandCaicos, October 26, 2021 – At least one head of a major Caribbean institution, says cleaner sources of energy must be the way forward for sustained economic development, and prosperity of its citizens.

According to President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr Gene Leon, economic security for the region, is intertwined with secured sources of energy, and less reliance on fossil fuels.

Dr. Leon, who delivered the keynote presentation at the recent Turks and Caicos Energy Forum, hosted by FortisTCI, underscored that “Our development in the region must be seen from a holistic perspective and, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, a sustainable energy transition is one of our most important trans-generational obligations,” he said.

Adding that the Bank’s 19 member countries get more than 90 per cent of their commercial energy from imported sources and having an electricity cost which averages US$0.28 per kilowatt hour in 2019, he said energy costs are a major stagnation to regional economies.

“With limited fiscal space available to Governments, the private sector must play a leading role in driving this transition,” the CDB President told the Forum, adding that small private investors, private utility companies, and large private independent power producers need to invest in various sustainable energy transition projects, with an expectation of reasonable returns, while simultaneously “supporting common sustainability goals.”

The CDB President used his wide-ranging presentation to call for the elimination of waste and losses in energy usage, and for proven technology to be upgraded, and adapted, as well as the implementation of performance standards, regulations, instruments, and incentives to boost clean and renewable energy.

“Financing this transition will require resources, and we have to devise innovative and flexible financing arrangements, while adopting appropriate regulatory frameworks to crowd in investments from our private sector and leverage relevant technical and financial resources from our strategic partnerships,” he said.

The Turks andCaicos Energy Forum, was a first of its kind event held on October 21, 2021at the Shore Club on Long Bay in Providenciales.