ST. THOMAS — Over 270 people attended the territory’s inaugural\u00a0Caribbean Clean Energy Technology Symposium (CCETS) held from March 24-27 at the Frenchman’s Reef and Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, where leaders in the clean energy industry, local and foreign government officials and business people gathered to learn and share knowledge about the benefits of clean energy in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
The symposium was organized by the\u00a0V.I. Economic Development Authority (VIEDA), the lead organization for economic development in the Virgin Islands, and co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, Caribbean-Central American Action (C-CAA), and the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).<\/p>\n
The symposium assembled\u00a0country and sector experts from various countries and the Caribbean region under one roof, who shared best practices and worked together to identify common goals and create action plans with deliverables that will lead to increasing access to energy efficiency and clean and renewable energy technologies in Caribbean nations, according to a VIEDA press release.<\/p>\n
The symposium included a\u00a0pre-symposium on the territory’s energy landscape by the Virgin Islands Energy Office (VIEO), CARICOM Secretariat’s presentation on the strategies for Caribbean sustainable energy and VRE Grid Integration, and the IDB\u2019s stakeholder working group on natural gas.<\/p>\n
Following the presentations, panel discussions were held by energy leaders on a variety of topics, including\u00a0assessing the current energy landscape, developing a workforce around green energy, financing clean energy technologies, and exploring how utilities in the Caribbean region and other areas are adapting to a cleaner energy economy as they maintain profitable and more sustainable operations.<\/p>\n
Stakeholder working groups assembled after the panel discussions to share thoughts and ideas on energy education, economic growth and clean energy, buildings and energy efficiency, electricity generation and delivery, energy assurance, base load electricity diversification and clean transportation.<\/p>\n