Castries, Saint Lucia, March 12, 2021; CARILEC Member Utilities will have the benefit of skills development in an area of specific interest and relevance to utilities and energy affiliated organisations, when the Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC) hosts a workshop on Negotiating Bankable Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) for Renewable Energy from March 16th -17th.
PPAs play an important role for the expansion of renewable energy and the transition towards a clean and climate-friendly energy sector. A well-defined and legally embedded PPA provides reliable and long-term clarity on roles, responsibilities, costs, revenues and probability and significance of associated risks for involved stakeholders. It considers all financial, technical, and legal aspects related to the feed-in of electricity through an independent power producer into the public network and the purchase of this electricity through the utility or another off-taker.
The PPA workshop will focus on the key concerns surrounding PPAs, from the perspectives of the investor, lender, regulator, and the utility company. It will also examine critical contributing factors to drafting and negotiating PPAs, such as the required and recommended regulatory frameworks, support policies and technical measures. To this end, the workshop is targeted towards CEOs, senior utility personnel, legal officers, regulators, engineers and technical specialists/analysts of electricity and energy affiliated organisations.
According to Thomas Mitschke, Energy Solutions Advisor at CARILEC, a PPA is the most important agreement governing the sale and purchase of power between the (renewable) energy producer and the utility and it is the key to bankability of new clean generation projects in the Caribbean. “What constitutes a bankable PPA? How can utilities ensure that their PPAs are suitable for local market and frameworks conditions and for their unique operations and constraints? While the topic of PPAs itself is not novel, energy transition and other changes in the market entail new requirements, challenges and dynamics that utility CEOs and senior professionals need to analyse and take into consideration.”
The two (2) day virtual capacity building workshop is being hosted in Partnership with Duane Morris LLP, a CARILEC Affiliate Member, and sponsored by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The workshop will also provide utilities wishing to attend the Network and Connect session with timely information, as they prepare to coordinate further activities with energy affiliated organisations and regulators.
The workshop`s overall objective under CARILEC’s mandate is to accelerate the Caribbean region’s energy sector transition, through professional development, innovation, and advocacy.
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For further information, contact:
Karen C. Piper
Assistant Manager, Communications & Disaster Management
Mobile Phone: +1 (758) 728 9212
Email: [email protected]
About CARILEC:
The Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation (CARILEC) is an association of energy solution providers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean. CARILEC was established in 1989 with nine (9) members as part of an electric Utilities modernization project funded by USAID and implemented by NRECA under a five-year “Co-operative Agreement.” Currently, CARILEC comprises over one hundred members. This includes thirty-three (33) Full Members that are electric Utilities, and over eighty (80) Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Associate and Affiliate Members that are companies involved in some aspect of servicing the electric Utility business.
