The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a series of partnerships and other initiatives to address clean energy and energy security in the Western Hemisphere as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). The new projects focus on clean energy cooperation, technical assistance and financing, renewable energy, electricity infrastructure and earthquake preparedness.
Energy officials joined more than 200 businesses and non-governmental organizations to advance initiatives under ECPA that will help countries across the Western Hemisphere develop and deploy clean-energy technologies and achieve low-carbon economic growth.
The projects include efforts to advance electricity interconnections in the Caribbean, support biomass development in Colombia, promote earthquake-resistant energy infrastructure. In addition, an Energy Innovation Center at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will be created in order to expand project development and financing.
The center will serve as a focal point for project development and financing in the region and will be able to access the IDB's annual energy financing pipeline of approximately $3 billion. The center will be staffed by both DOE and IDB employees and will include trips by subject matter specialists to the region to assess potential projects.Â
The IDB Innovation Center is the latest in a series of regional clean energy centers throughout the Western Hemisphere, including a Costa Rican energy efficiency training center, a wind center in Mexico, an energy efficiency Center in Peru and a renewable energy center in Chile.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Energy Â
