Strengthening the Renewable Energy Capacity in Central America

In Central America, a big part of the population does not have access to electricity. For a lot of them, it is not possible to wait a short-term period until the electricity arrives, because of the high costs even a low consumption signifies. In the areas where the network is extended, the tendency is toward thermal power generation and, in other areas, people with more resources use diesel generators. This increment in fossil fuels usage produces greater CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gasses. The growing use of renewable energy sources could be a solution to both problems.

Renewable energy technologies are viable solutions in small rural applications, and they have the extra benefit of not producing greenhouse gasses. However, there are some barriers that make it difficult to use of this kind of energy; for example, lack of knowledge, narrow institutional capacity, and difficulties for funding access for renewable energy project developers.

These are the reasons why, from March 2000 to December 2020, BUN-CA executed the Regional Initiative for “Strengthening the Renewable Energy Capacity in Central America” (FOCER by its acronym in Spanish), implementing the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the financial help of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).