LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

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PFAN IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 2016-2023

  • 41 Total investment leveraged (USD million)
  • 10 Total projects which mobilised finance
  • 51.8 Clean energy capacity added (MW)
  • 39 Projects provided PFAN support
  • 1640 Potential CO2eq reduced per annum (tonnes)
Total projects supported by technology 2016-2023
    Total number of projects supported by country 2016-2023

    Market developments 2016-2023

    After a four-year hiatus, PFAN restarted operations in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019. This launch under the UNIDO / REEEP hosting structure marked the return of PFAN and coincided with a resurgence of renewable energy and energy transition projects in the region, specifically in Central America, Mexico, Colombia and the Caribbean.

    Pre-Covid-19, the supply and interest in climate change and clean energy projects was robust and growing, with PFAN LAC starting strong with high levels of participation and regional representation. This was stymied by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the follow-on impacts, which significantly affected the pipeline of projects and the direct engagement of investor networks in the area. Many projects went on standby and struggled to get back on track, suffering lingering impacts of the supply chain, procurement complexities, due diligence and financing constraints. The industry active in the region shifted to asset management and securing financing through corporate instruments and away from the traditional future flow project finance. These impacts, in addition to policy changes in key countries such as Mexico, slowed activities throughout the entire region.

    As of 2023, however, the movement towards energy transition and net zero policies in public and economic policy, as part of national objectives, driven by the net zero and carbon neutral commitments embedded in NDCs regionally, added to the industry’s return. In addition, the review and integration of green hydrogen initiatives, the intersection with green mobility infrastructure, the return of carbon markets and the explosion of special purpose funds focused on SDGs, climate and biodiversity became strong drivers impacting the industry.123

    PFAN’s activities

    PFAN has continued to work with a group of projects and businesses despite many being delayed or not surviving the complex series of conditions in the market between 2020-2022. Our expert advisor network in the region has flexibly adapted to the evolving challenges and continues to provide support to new and existing projects in our pipeline and host investor roundtables, ensuring upcoming trends and existing difficulties are captured and shared. As the recovery took shape, the number of projects applying for PFAN support increased, and the pipeline began to reflect the trends highlighted above, following the regional trends towards energy transition.

    PFAN’s service is highly valued by individual projects, businesses and the investor network. Until PFAN-LAC’s establishment, a dedicated project preparation facility (PPF) for this segment of projects was not a permanent presence in the region. The virtual advisory services and mentoring services, therefore, became of unique importance, as did our investor roundtables, designed to ensure stronger linkages between the parties – both the supply and demand sides of financing.

    The market challenges have evolved in that the resources and technological availability are no longer significant issues in the region; rather, there is often a mismatch between the expectations of investors/financiers and the project developers/entrepreneurs. To that end, PFAN’s work focused significantly on strengthening commercial cases, governance, financial models, expectations and assumptions – dedicating much time to strengthening business cases while coaching and preparing entrepreneurs for their first meetings with potential partners/investors. The strength of the underlying project, as well as the matching ability PFAN has displayed in pairing potential investors with strengthened projects has been and will continue to be a key differentiator in the space.

    For example, PFAN’s support of EarthSpark International has helped them to develop 22 town-sized, solar-hybrid, prepaid, 24-hour smart microgrids in Haiti’s southern departments, which will, once completed, add 5.84MW of generated capacity. In Haiti, where only 47% of the population has access to electricity, EarthSpark’s mini-grids are now the most reliable electricity source and will serve more than 80,000 people and nearly 500 medium and large businesses.

    Success Story – 2022 financial closure

    Earthspark International

    • Location Haiti
    • Technology Solar
    • Technology Rural electrification & energy access
    Find out more

    “Jorge from the PFAN team has taken the time to understand our project and our needs, his specialized knowledge of the sector and his visibility into upcoming opportunities – combined with his authentic care for seeing these projects succeed – has been a wonderful support as we work to reach financial close on our solar microgrid scale-up project in Haiti.”

    Allison Archambault, President, EarthSpark International

    As per PFAN’s commitment to providing expertise based on a deep understanding of local conditions, our advisors are based in countries throughout the region, including Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Columbia and Barbados. They are highly skilled in a diverse range of topics, including development impact, hydropower, solar, energy efficiency and demand reduction, wind power, rural electrification and energy access. Through their dedication to providing PFAN services to projects and businesses in the PFAN-LAC pipeline, they have successfully helped 11 projects to mobilise USD 41 million in investment between 2020-2022.

    Patrick D’Addario Regional Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean

    Patrick D’Addario is the Coordinator of PFAN-LAC and is President and a founding Director of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia Foundation (LGF) and an original member of the PFAN network with more than 40 years of experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy project identification and preparation, finance, and commercialisation.

    In addition to having served PFAN as Strategic Advisor for the Americas, as a project evaluator and coach, he serves as an expert for The EU Department of International Partnerships (INTPA), advising on clean energy project development and finance, primarily in Africa. He has worked on clean energy projects for philanthropic, private, and multilateral development clients in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria, as well as in an additional 25 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

    Patrick D’Addario shares insights into PFAN’s impact in Latin America and the Caribbean

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    PFAN IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN IN 2023

    Regional developments

    The primary trends in Latin America and the Caribbean include an update of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the region, corporate and public policy commitments to carbon neutrality and a push towards net zero, as well as an emphasis on addressing extreme heat in the tropical areas. PFAN is aware and active on the infrastructure front (transmission and distribution), improved reliability of systems, microgrids and the behind the meter use of energy storage and data analysis, which is helpful to corporate clients. In addition to these trends within the power generation and distribution space, PFAN has also engaged in the green hydrogen and electric mobility trends – which are driving energy storage discussions – as part of our expertise in the region.

    Additional trends which can be attributed to changing weather patterns, especially in the Caribbean basin, are helping address the sargasso seaweed blooms that have dramatically impacted tourism-dependent areas. As part of this work, PFAN has engaged with entrepreneurs who are also looking for solutions either through a biomass solution (energy) or biogas solution tied to other agricultural applications for these blooms once they reach coasts. As has been our strength, the knowledge and capacity diversity/scope of PFAN’s advisor network has made these transitions and trends relatively seamless.

    PFAN’s achievements

    In 2023, PFAN-LAC continued actively providing our services to projects in the pipeline and supporting them through the PFAN Journey. The region’s most significant achievement and milestone in 2023 was the successful organisation of the in-person LAC Pipeline Building and Roadshow Event in Guatemala, which took place from 20-24 February.

    The event was joined by 15 advisors from across the region for capacity building, knowledge exchange, and stakeholder meetings with approximately 60 in-person stakeholders, and a large group joined virtually. This event had very positive effects on our outreach activities in the region – during the week of the event, there was a significant increase in the number of registrations from projects interested in applying to PFAN.

    As in the other PFAN regions, we continued to promote gender-related capacity-building activities for our network. PFAN, together with Value for Women, held several Gender Masterclass trainings for the advisors, focusing on providing tools and resources for PFAN advisors to use in their support to the projects.

    Although there were no financial closures in PFAN-LAC in 2023, our network members continued to build new relationships with partners in the region and to maintain contact with over 20 partners in the region, including Fundacion Solar, Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), Creating Economic Opportunities/USAID and S3IDF.

    Starting from February 2024, PFAN-LAC is operating the Caribbean Clean Investment Program (CCIP)’s project preparation facility (PPF) under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (CFDA). Through this programme, PFAN-LAC is developing a pipeline of projects at different stages of development to usher them through the pre-investment cycle. 

    Selected projects will be taken through the established PFAN Journey. New to the PPF, PFAN-LAC is adding an extra step of assistance – pipeline development for pre-application support to projects. During this stage, our network of locally-based Advisors will assist eligible projects in preparing their application for PFAN-LAC’s services.

    [1] https://www.power-technology.com/analyst-comment/lac-ev-climate-emissions/?cf-view

    [2] https://globalclimateactionpartnership.org/2019/12/latin-america-and-the-caribbeans-historic-commitment-towards-renewable-energy/

    [3] https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/eu-and-lac-climate-collaboration-renewable-energy/