 Good morning everyone Wait, I just feel that energy in that morning. Good morning everyone It is an energy forum after all am I right? Welcome to the Caricom Development Fund Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Forum now RE or Renewable Energy and EE for energy efficiency is today being driven in an effort for small and Medium-sized enterprises to capitalize on it in order for them to reach the market whether that's locally Regionally or of course internationally Hello, once again, my name is miss Ronisha gentle and I am elated to be your host for this First order of business though is the same national anthem So if you could please kindly stand on the venerable Archdeacon Christian glass go before we proceed Genesis in the beginning Man was created to be co-creator and KTK of God's creation with God and as such our task was and is To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation To renew and sustain the life of the earth Let us pray The name of God with father sudden Holy Spirit. Amen Lord God we give you thanks for all those who Collaborate in efforts to safeguard integrity of creation We are especially thankful for the CDF and their work in renewable energy and energy efficiency As we come together in this forum today It is our prayer that all who participate We do so with a sense of urgency and a sense of the importance of this hour father We pray that even as new hopes are raised That they will be sustained by having the various support structures Assisting and working to nurture such hopes and to bring them to fruition Father it is our prayer that all things done here today Would work in a collaborative manner so that the integrity of this creation will be maintained and Together we will seek to renew and sustain the life of this earth our home This is our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Thank you very much for those words of blessing archdeacon And now of course I have to take this time to acknowledge our protocol for this morning and give a special welcome to senior minister and minister for infrastructure poor transport physical development and urban renewal Minister has anybody ever told you that your portfolio is very heavy and Very wordy, but I'm sure you're doing a very good job Also, I would like to welcome and acknowledge mr. Rodin all sumer CEO for the curriculum development fun. Good morning Also miss Selena Chang deputy council for the embassy of China, Taiwan In addition to that of course our archdeacon Christian Glasgow Thank you once again and a warm welcome to our special guests and presenters. Dr. Allison Jean Miss Cheryl when run week Mr. David Bristol and mr. Cornelia Sidoni Now for some quick housekeeping Please be advised that refreshments in the form of coffee or tea is directly behind you and feel free to take part in it throughout The course of the morning Now to start off the order of events. I now call to the stage mr. Rodin all sumer Chief executive officer of caricum development fund to give us a few remarks Thank you, mistress of ceremonies And you did say a few remarks So I might have to ask you to bear with me a while Because these are a bit more than a few remarks But before I get into my former remarks Let me acknowledge members of the Stage had Stead seated on the stage The protocol has been established. Let me adopt it, but also to see It's really a pleasure to have the minister here with us today to help to set the stage in terms of policy direction For the government of San Lucia, which is important for the success of the initiative that we are about to To to share with you Through these remarks and throughout the day, let me also Acknowledge the partners of this this facility that you'll find out more about as we go along The banks that have signed up to the credit risk abatement facility of graph The SMEs that have already benefited from the facility Hopefully they will serve as Example and inspiration for those of you who are interested Together to get on board with renewable energy and energy efficiency Also to acknowledge members of the media and for all business owners and managers will have turned out in such large numbers to this forum organized by the CDF So I want to thank you very much for making the time to attend today's event which seeks to expose Participants to an exciting offering in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector of the region and That is the credit risk abatement facility, which we call craft Which is has been developed and launched by the Karakom development fund the CDF So permit me firstly to briefly place this initiative in the context of The rationale for and the purpose of the CDF The CDF was established a pursuant to article 158 of the revised treaty of Shagaramas To provide technical and financial assistance to countries regions and sectors That are determined to be disadvantaged Among other reasons by the implementation of the Karakom single market and economy the CSME So by addressing or pre-empting those situations of disadvantage the CDF through its program activities and product offerings promotes greater economic and social Cohesion within the Caribbean community and thereby strengthens the platform for deeper and more beneficial regional integration So what we're about to discuss today falls Within that framework and you I'll explain and it will become evident to you. Hopefully how they fit together Among other capacities This mandate of the CDF Orients and empowers the fund to address the developmental needs of both the public and private sectors In the pursuit of the core objective of addressing economic and social dislocation Since the inception of our country programs in 2010 The CDF's interventions have been geared in accordance of the CDF agreement towards three broad areas firstly addressing structural diversification and infrastructural development needs secondly facilitating regional investment promotion and mobilization and Thirdly facilitating business development and enterprise competitiveness So those two last thematic thrust that I mentioned facilitating and mobilizing investment at the regional level and enabling enterprise development and competitiveness are being significantly advanced and under the operational mandate of the credit risk abatement facility that we will be Presenting to you today Karakor member states in delivering on their climate change priorities must engage the private sector Particularly small and medium-sized enterprises But we know that these enterprises face several challenges in the thrust to invest in Renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures among other areas One such challenge is the lack of access to financing The strengthening of access to financing for SMEs in our view should be accelerated By encouraging the financial sector to become a significant player in providing appropriate financing options as We see it the involvement of financial institutions is imperative if we are to reap the commercial and developmental benefits of a sustainable energy sector that holds so much promise for us in the region through increased domestic investment and improvements to the competitiveness of businesses But in our consultations You know it was it is clear to us and I think it's considered to be more or less common knowledge That there's a certain hesitation in the financial sector to participate in this area A critical impediment to that participation are the high risks associated with servicing SME credit Compounded by the lack of knowledge in underwriting loans for projects related to renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures to address these gaps Within the sustainable energy space and these were identified through various stakeholder consultations and surveys the CDF's craft addresses the entire ecosystem of key stakeholders and Is aimed at building the market on both the supply and the demand sides To this end the craft is a creative solution and I would I would describe it as a total solution aimed at incentivizing financial institutions to provide additional lending or incremental lending to SMEs for REE and EE initiatives not only in Saint Lucia where we are doing this event for the first time but throughout Chirocon In Saint Lucia, there are currently two local financial institutions that have signed on to the craft These are the Saint Lucia Development Bank and the Bank of Saint Lucia We are currently in discussion with other financial institutions and hope to onboard more of them very soon At the regional level the Caribbean has committed to reducing its reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy and Embrace the use of renewable energy sources such as wind biomass and solar which are in abundance in the region Saint Lucia through its updated national determined contributions For example has committed to transition to a low carbon development strategy and strengthen its resilience to climate change Initially the cost of conversion to renewable energy technologies were somewhat prohibitive However, these technologies have seen notable decreases in cost leading to significantly lower capital needed to invest in new systems, so we have a An opportunity now to take advantage of these cost reductions to give a boost to investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency as As I've indicated earlier financing Renewable energy projects remains a major challenges for small businesses Both in Saint Lucia and the wider Karakom region and in and even in instances where financing is readily available There's a lack of sound and bankable projects or proposals that can stand up to the rigors of the requirements of financial institutions So we need a combination of things dedicated financing along with risk reduction measures Which would lead to increase investments in these projects The Karakom development fund recognizing this challenge sought to fashion this solution that has evolved into craft Focused on the energy sector where SMEs are particularly vulnerable to high energy costs Due to their dependence on fossil fuel power sources The objective of the facility when we were thinking it through is to implement a private sector driven and Market-based approach towards promoting investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency the development of this facility Which in certain respects or certain aspects of it Would not be new to you or to the region took over three years of Dedicated work amongst all stakeholders in the region financiers SMEs regulators specific regional institutions and service providers a Cross-section of which are represented here at the local level today The craft was launched in November 2020 and its primary focus is Is to incentivize additional lending from local financial institutions to the private sector? And it covers interventions in all productive sectors, particularly agriculture manufacturing and tourism and the key objective of the credit risk reduction framework is To encourage financial institutions commercial banks development banks As well as other financial institutions To lend to small businesses with and that includes credit unions in fact in some countries credit unions Play a more major role than than the commercial banks and development banks to lend to small businesses with viable projects and Businesses that have good prospects of success But which are unable to provide adequate collateral or which do not have suitable records of financial Transactions to prove that they are credit worthy You will hear much more about the details of the craft Through to the presentations that will follow, but I just want to give you a broad Indication of how it is structured the craft comprises three targeted interventions a credit risk instrument a Technical assistance program, which is Which we are going to focus on a lot today and a monitoring and evaluation framework In short we have tried to bring together all the players all the key players in one space Which is why you describe it as a total solution to improve access to finance and to improve the quality of projects So that we'll have a much greater uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency solution So this project identification forum today Hopefully will bring the aspirations of many of you Closer to reality in Particular and this is important for us to emphasize the CDF is targeting women entrepreneurs and women operated businesses in keeping with our gender equality policy The fact is that women owned and managed businesses in St. Lucia as is the case across the region as a whole Contribute significantly to the economic landscape of the country. So there we are bringing the opportunity to you So we urge you to engage with the craft personnel within the CDF that are here today We will be considering your proposals with a view to moving them to the next stage Whether through the provision of technical assistance or facilitating access to affordable finance that is already available in the system So our personnel will be on island for a few more days and I think some of you already aware that we are in the process of Scheduling visits to your establishments where we can meet with you and get the ball rolling What we hope to be able to do after this is to generate a very solid pipeline of Projects that will go through the financial system particularly through the onboarded craft financial institutions So the next time we meet we can speak of of the successes How many projects we were able to to stand up under the craft in St. Lucia? How many we could would have been able to support through technical assistance through loans and and through credit risk support through the banks In closing I'm particularly pleased that this project identification is being rolled out Initially in St. Lucia as we seek to strengthen our sustainable energy program with the government of St. Lucia In that regard I'm particularly encouraged by the presence of minister Stevenson King Responsible as a minister responsible for energy and other representatives from the ministry and public public sector in St. Lucia Who have policy and regulatory level responsibility? And of course most importantly All of the business owners and managers that I hear from the private sector because this is really targeted to you You are the ones that are going to drive this facility and to ensure that it is a success Not for us, but for yourselves and for the region last but by no means least we are excited about the future as We seek to address the various gaps in knowledge gaps the information gaps the financing gaps that Slow down the implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and programs in solution across the region and To do so it is the CDF's intention to have similar forums in the majority of our other member states So we hope to learn a lot from our engagement with you and hopefully we can showcase this forum as a success that we can build on So I thank you for your attention and wish you all a productive engagement at this Project identification forum for sustainable energy and please, you know Feel free to engage us as you need to so that we can help you advance your projects in the sustainable energy space Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Mr. Sumer pop quiz this mandate of CDF on the craft is The revised version of what treaty? I Mean I'm here in it. Okay. There we go. All right one more time for those who didn't get that one What year was the credit risk abatement facility launched? Y'all sharp. I can't handle y'all Now let's give a not so hard test We have here today two polls that we would like you to participate in if you look on the screens You will see a QR code as well as a very short website That you can log into so the first option is to scan the QR code And you will have direct access to the poll which consists of three short questions Alternatively, you can type in slido.com slido.com and enter the pin Pong sign two one eight five nine two six That will lead you to the questions as well We will take a few minutes to complete that and you will see live feedback from the responses no cheating and Of course answer Honestly and candidly so the first poll question What is the main barrier to the implementation of energy efficiency or E and renewable energy? RE solutions in small and medium enterprises in St. Lucia, so basically What challenges do persons in the small and medium-sized enterprise on the island have for Implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy within their organizations business plans business concepts We still have a few people putting in their answers. I see we have a very Far-lead for one particular answer and can I get from my moderator if there are any more answers still trickling in? Thank you everyone for participating and to give a quick recap We have access to financing at 74 percent. Ah, wow. I think that is a common denominator in green energy Sustainability and every other aspect when it comes to starting up a small business in second place We have lack of awareness of the benefits of RE and EE solutions And this is where this form comes in to gauge your Interest and see how best the CDF can thrust it forward in ensuring that all relevant parties get on board Third, we have limitation in the regulatory framework 2928 percent On that and lastly, we have lack of technical expertise and I believe Mr. Sumer rightfully mentioned that we have our technical staff here on duty today To get that started now doubling back on the third item lack of awareness of the benefits of RE and EE solutions Once again, that is also available here for you today and the limitations in the regulatory framework now shifting to that tide we have Dr. Allison Jean To give us a bit more inside Jean okay guys, so I have to make a disclaimer the French is killing me Over here in the OECS, so please forgive me for my Belizean accent not allowing me to properly pronunciate and annunciate those French words My apologies Dr. Allison Jean Okay, there we go the chief executive officer of the National Utilities Regulatory Commission and she will be giving us a bit more insight on How our utility stakeholders and partners can of course be incorporated in initiatives such as this one dr. Jean Good morning, everyone. I wish to Acknowledge the presence of honourable Stevenson King my parliamentary representative and senior minister in the Ministry of Infrastructure ports energy transport physical development urban renewal And every other everything else metrological services and all of the above Yes, I need that energy public utilities telecommunications My presentation this morning Will focus on the advances that have been made by St. Lucia on renewable energy and the energy efficiency sector to stimulate investments among small and micro enterprises and as I start off I wanted to Look at the evolution of the enabling environment for electricity in St. Lucia So it starts off with the electricity supply act of 1964 Which granted our current utility which is Lucilleck an Exclusive license to generate transmit distribute and selling electricity for 80 years from July 1st 1965 As we moved on the cabinet of ministers approved a sustainable energy plan With one of the goals being to enhance security of energy supply and use of all sectors for all sectors of the economy However successful implementation of that plan was impeded by the absence of the appropriate regulatory and policy framework in 2010 the cabinet came back and Approved the national energy policy which sought to create the regulatory and institutional enabling environment for the introduction of in of in industrial indigenous, sorry renewable energy to the national energy mix and Also to achieve greater energy security and independence the national energy policy also sought to and Pursue the procurement of energy supplies at the least cost through liberalization of energy of the energy sector and the and broad and private sector participation So that's where you come in as SMEs Again energy security and reliability diversification of the energy base Exploitation of indigenous renewable energy resources So to achieve higher efficiency in energy production conversion and use of the overall objective of reducing energy intensity reduction of adverse environmental effects and pollution by rehabilitating existing and energy sector facilities and introducing new standards for energy related products as well as mandating appropriate environmental impact assessments of new projects and options Further to the energy policy and that for me. I think was the linchpin for the advancement of Incorporation of renewable energy into our generation mix the government of st. Lucia pursued What was called the eastern Caribbean energy regulatory authority is Sarah by Collaborating with the government of Grenada to serve as a regional regulator That initiative was pursued with the other Caribbean countries, but unfortunately Only St. Lucia and Grenada signed on Is Sarah as an authority was changed to a regulators agency while both countries created national regulators and That's the reason I did not introduce myself after madam mistress of ceremony Because now I could tell you about the national utilities regulatory commission or acronym nuke Which is the regulatory body in st. Lucia for Energy water and sewage Services so nuke was born by an act of parliament number three of 2016 To serve as that economic regulator for water wastewater and electricity service sectors in st. Lucia License the license that was granted to the utility or loose electric According to the legislation was to generate electricity Using fossil fuels only so if you remember I said initially that The company was given exclusive right to generate transmit distribute and sell electricity But the act of 2016 reduced the generation to fossil fuels only and The electricity supply amendment act number two of 2016 Required that all electricity Generated from renewable energy would now fall under the authority of the nuke So Lucia Lex exclusivity is for the generation using fossil fuels only and That means no other Entity or individual can generate electricity from fossil fuels but renewable energy Generation is open to all and falls under the direction or the regulatory authority of the nuke the government of st. Lucia in 2018 Cabinet approved the national energy transition strategy of what is called a net and It specifies the results of an analysis and strategy by defining the techno economic opportunities pathways and implications of energy transition Established through the creation of an integrated resource plan And as you would see on the screen the results of the Research that was carried out sought to identify The least cost option for energy generation for st. Lucia as we transition from renewable energy from Fossil fuel onto renewable energy I will not go through all but the recommended approach at that time was for there to be a combination of centralized solar and wind with a Penetration of about thirty eight point nine percent of renewable energy onto the system by 2023 we're in 2023 and We have not gotten there yet But there is still good news on the horizon The government has been reviewing consulting and pursuing the draft electricity bill For some time now and that bill sets out the functions of the commission on the provision of electricity services These functions are related to the licensing of electricity service providers Technical and economic regulation of the sector Conducting public education programs providing advice to the minister for energy and dispute resolution between sector stakeholders and so From the draft legislation we can already glean or in fact the amendment legislation has already pursued the unbundling of Services of generation Transmission and distribution of electricity It also allows for entrance into the sector so When the new legislation is enacted you have opportunities as investors to become independent power producers or To be able to install larger systems On your property in order to take advantage of the indigenous Resources of solar or wind as the Nets prescribed I could say that the government is at this time doing a review of the IRP Well, it's in the integrated resource plan and now It's going to be an integrated Resilience and resource plan and so that will determine the amount or the the Yes, the combinations that would be the combinations of resources generation resources that could be added on to the National electricity grid From the the draft legislation there is also provision for competitive bidding for new generation and We seek to Pursue our nationally determined commitments which stated that we should achieve at least 35 percent Renewable energy onto our grid by 2025 so What are the perspectives to unlock in the capital investment? I'm sure that's what you're eager to hear I Believe the first thing that must be done is for the electricity legislation to be enacted the new legislation Because this is going to open the window or the door to you as small and medium enterprises Unlocking that potential that we have in our country for renewable energy because We do not Have oil we have to import fossil fuels we see the volatility of the sec of of the the of The world market and so If we are able to pursue What we already have on our island then that will be a tremendous Progress towards getting you to achieve your bottom line and I think for all of you in the room that is your main focus There is need what we've done in the in the nook is to Do several studies that will assist us in preparing for the enactment of the legislation and just recently We conducted a public consultation with our various stakeholders on What would be the optimal capacity limits for domestic commercial and industrial sector? I must say that I have gotten some very good Commence I only received I received the last three comments from the Senucia hotel and tourism association and I am awaiting Commence from other major sectors, especially the private sector the other thing that we Also discussed at the public consultation was the energy pricing methodology that ought to be applicable For St. Lucia that means right now For persons who have or entities that have been connected To the grid through the re photovoltaic systems the solar photovoltaic systems They're doing it with the utility on a net metering Basis which means that whatever price you pay for electricity is the same price you sell the residual power from your system, but This as we know is an unsustainable Methodology and so again, we're putting it out to consultation What you believe should be the applicable methodology whether it be net billing gross billing Feed-in tariff by all sell-all these this is out for discussion right now and we invite your comments on what ought to be the We we eagerly await The entrance of independent power producers and that means that you can have utility solar or wind and selling to the Low-neutility company. There are other provisions for procurement procedures and power purchase agreements and Incentives to investors. I believe will assist in unlocking the potential There is Again the reason that we're here Looking at financial institutions that would make capital available and as we're told The Senutia Development Bank and the Bank of St. Lucia who we deal with very closely They have already been able to provide facilities for that our land use policy should also Be reviewed because solar takes up large land space and you wouldn't want in 238 square miles to Have to give up so much land space in favor of these solar panels because there's a competition with various sectors for that same land and Of course, I believe that our utility Should be focused on grid maintenance and grid upgrading to take into account the intermittencies that will be prevalent in the During the time when We have a higher penetration of renewable energy I thought that since we have small businesses here But I know that my time I'm already getting a cue that I have to stop but just to let you know the application process I will not go into it But if you need further information you could come to the nook, but I just want to highlight That before you think of purchasing your solar PV system Please put in your application to the nook Before you import that system because you may encounter difficulty with your system specifications being incompatible with the national system and so we advocate and we advise in accordance with our guidelines that you ought to Seek approval For your PV system before coming before going to pursue to order or import your system So ladies and gentlemen I Will stop here and invite you to give us a call Or send us an email At the National Utilities Regulatory Commission. We're located in San Susi in the Yard that has flow Karelek and some other Organizations I thank you a special. Thank you for those remarks Dr. Jean In this portion of the agenda let's welcome and address by Miss Rosemary Pierre Louise director of investment Coordination in the Ministry of Commerce Madame chair. I Wish to adopt the protocol already established. However, I want to recognize the presence of Honorable Stevenson King and members of the head table as I look around the room I see some very familiar faces Mr. Brian Louisie Other government official senior members Mr. Medford Francis my go-to expert on matters relating to energy Mr. Terrence Gillard Ladies and gentlemen, good morning Let me first apologize on behalf of Honorable Emma Hippolit who would have loved to be here I think we can all agree that she's very passionate about Her MSM is and so I apologize on her behalf. She really could not be here because she's out of state Just by show of hands. How many business owners do we have there our micro and small business owners? Are you all here or I? Here we go and I'm assuming that many more attuned in virtually Because we did send out the invite to them via Neocera, so my apologies, but I will not be speaking to our non MSMEs my focus this morning will be to speak to our MSMEs, I'm sorry, I may sound biased But as a representative from the Ministry of Commerce, I want to ensure that they Understand clearly what is being discussed here this morning as the ministry Responsible for commerce manufacturing business development cooperatives and consumer affairs. We are extremely passionate About the success of our micro small and medium-sized enterprises Our MSMEs form the backbone of our local our local economy Collectively the impact and resilience are undeniable however Complaints about limited access to finance Compounded by the burden of high electricity costs continue to feature prominently during our side visits to businesses Our businesses, especially the manufacturers Recognize the benefits to be derived from making the transition to cleaner energy sources. However the current financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects is Humped by several factors and we saw that this morning on the screen a perceived lack of demand from SMEs driven by lack of access to finance limited understanding of the technology and potential long-term cost savings that can be achieved through such interventions a relatively underdeveloped local market lack of collateral resources by SMEs and limited risk appetite amount Finances to extend credit to SMEs for such interventions Economic experts estimate that MSMEs represent the lion's share of businesses in the Caribbean and Latin America and Collectively among the region's strongest drivers of economic development and innovation. However It is not surprising that according to the organization of economic cooperation and development OECD MSMEs in this region Receive only 12 percent of total credit less than half the share received by MSMEs in OECD countries and only 17 percent of MSMEs in the region use bank rate to finance short-term working capital Compared with 29 percent of large companies further 22 percent of MSMEs use long-term bank credit for fixed asset financing Compared to 34 percent for larger companies as a result These MSMEs tend to remain small Unconsiderably less productive Today we welcome the CDF's credit risk abit main facility craft To St. Lucia as the craft seeks to overcome these barriers through an integrated approach by providing a credit risk guarantee to finances and a targeted technical assistance program to build capacity among SMEs and We heard from Mr. Suma. It is a all-encompassing initiative We listen to our knowledge. However, that s M is financing issues arise not solely on the supply side But that that there are demand side issues as well both in terms of the reluctance of SMEs to take advantage of external finance and the lack of Investment readiness by many of our SMEs Thus measures to promote SME finance from the supply side Cannot be considered in isolation We are happy that the CDF's craft is going to fill these gaps in the credit market thereby allowing for the transfer of risk away from the primary lender and Unlocking much-needed capital to finance viable renewable energy and energy efficiency projects Specifically the craft will provide an incentive for additional lending To small and medium-sized entities for these projects in the Caribbean The Ministry of Commerce welcomes efforts towards this end In keeping with the national energy policy We are committing to working Collaboratively with the department responsible for energy to ensure that all major consumers of electricity undertake energy audits to assess energy consumption and implement energy conservation practices in much this year in commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day The Ministry hosted a mini expo to encourage the transition to clean energy This useful one-on-one information sharing session presented the general public with clean energy options from sellers of LED lights solar panels, etc and Exposed them to the benefits of making such a transition It also saw the display of a solar photovoltaic car deployed by the Department of Sustainable Development Which many found intriguing Some of our SMEs Like the local operator of Latil Falls in Miku Has all together zero his electricity bill for him the benefits a crew will reel There is currently a 100% import duty waiver on new renewable energy equipment and Components and the government also continues to provide concessions on electric and hybrid vehicles That's the Ministry of Commerce urges all SMEs to take full advantage of this opportunity presented here to be and to make the transition and I just want to pause to remind our small businesses that the Ministry of Commerce together with the Department responsible for energy and The Chamber of Commerce together with our various financial institutions We stand and we remain committed to giving you the guidance Our offices are open. So please Don't be intimidated come in and let us explain and help you so that you can take full advantage of this opportunity The Ministry of Commerce is heartened by this project identification forum aim at unlocking access to financing and Accelerating sustainable energy projects. We welcome this forum hosted by Caricum Development fund to promote the craft. This must be recognized as a decisive move towards the realization of tangible benefits through actionable initiatives Hopefully this targeted initiative will spur interest and innovation Among SMEs looking to break the barriers to entry into the renewable energy sector on behalf of Honorable Emma Hippolyte. We are the Ministry of Commerce are delighted to welcome this project identification forum to St. Lucia and Hope that all stakeholders will find it useful and beneficial to their respective needs. I bid you Thank you, and I wish you a productive morning session Thank you so much for your presentation and input Louise now up next we have three presentations First by Michelle Renwick chief executive officer of Renwick and company limited Followed by Dr. David Bristol chief solar designer technician and director of gearing up limited And this will then be followed immediately after by mr. Cornelia Sidoni the managing director of St. Lucia Development Bank Mr. Renwick Morning everybody. I Guess you must be tired of sitting down and listening to everybody talking. So here's another speech for you But at least I'm one of those that I Can tell you about what has happened as experiences for Forenic so far Let me first of all Adopt there the protocols already established, but of course, I want to say a special good morning to Mr. King He has a big portfolio, but he's also our parliamentary rep Welcome, I'm glad you're here a little bit about who we are at For those of you who don't know us Renwick and company is a 57 year old family distribution company which was started by my dad Chris Renwick on 3rd of January 1966 We have two large properties in castries for offices and warehousing and we also have a full branch in view fort We represent over a hundred suppliers From all over the world as you know our slogan is shopping the world for you We employ almost a hundred team members We have two garden center shops that we're very proud of because they are The ones that the main agricultural input suppliers We also have a a retail store at Renwick and company and would be with I Where we distribute where we retail all the products that we distribute on island so when we started talking about energy and Looking at the strategic energy efficient goals these included for us long-term cost savings To become more energy efficient to upgrade and improve the electrical Schematic of Renwick and company. We're 57 years old. Our buildings are old To practice more corporate social responsibility in the fight against climate change and to prevent losses in the event of grid Dung time in 2018 we started that conversation We engaged in the internal discussions with the intentions of presenting a qualified project proposal to the St. Lucia Development Bank SLDB recipients of the World Bank Climate Resilience Project Fund The project was approved by the financial institution How well do all of us know The funds are there, but then we were not able we were not in a position to color Lateralize the debt facility required so it went on pause in 2020 These lovely people were here in St Lucia and at Meeting at the St Lucia Bureau of Standards through the Caribbean Development Fund Facilitated a meeting to introduce and discuss the implementation of a pilot project Aimed at addressing the ease of an assistance with financing needs of companies Wishing to embark on energy efficiency projects At this meeting along with a few other local companies in attendance Renwick and company represented by our financial controller Michelangelo who's in the crowd Took the opportunity to present the details and hurdles of its energy project Thereafter the Caribbean Development Fund represented by its financial controller Mr. Wayne Vittles who has been a source of Wealth energy for us in our project reached out for further discussions with the intention to qualify Renwick's project as an approved local pilot project The ultimate aim was to ensure a successful execution of the project through the technical assistance and financial Credit risk support through the external partners credit risk abatement facility Otherwise known as preff the project was on its way, and we were so happy The approved pilot project afforded Renwick the opportunity to access technical assistance both with understanding intricacies of moving towards energy efficiency as Sorry and as well the perpetuity processes which would eventually lead us to a viable approach to our financial institution The two major contributing parties were dr. David Bristol of gearing up limited Who's here and will follow me with the more technical information on the project? He executed a full energy audit on the company and Crafts through negotiations with SLDB for a determination of an agreed loan guarantee value Dr. Bristol was contracted through CDF at no cost to Renwick and the conclusions of such a report Detail all the specifics as it relates. Sorry. I forgot to This multitasking is not mine. I think should be somebody else's So The report detail all the specifics as it relates to the current usages and wastages as well as recommendations for resolve and or more efficient and cost efficient cost effective generation and use Craft on the other hand ensured the project was kept within the qualifying parameters for classification as energy efficiency Craft was also to support function for credit risk assessment and liaison with SLDB to secure required guarantee values Funding was then finalized in 2021 However, due to the backlash of COVID as it relates to the cost of materials and delivery delays All contractors engaged for the project had to submit revised quotes Which resulted in a much higher project spend? That sent us into a spiral However, together with everybody The company was able to rethink and remodeled the project to secure Sorry to secure a reduced overall cost without the compromising of our quality and effectiveness So coming out of the audit There were a couple recommendations Referred we were referred to a complete rewiring of the two building structures at Vidwit I as I said remember They are very old buildings the electrical Schematic way outdated causing quite a bit of wastage Along along the lines and therefore designing redesign was absolutely critical The design of data schematics now includes an additional meter At the main warehouse from the main building that is complete by about 90% Our number two recommendation referred to a complete Switchover of all our lighting to LED. That is about 95 percent complete our third recommendation Refer to a replacement of our entire air conditioning System you could imagine with the buildings that we had that came at a almost a fright for us Using but we were recommended to change everything out to using more an inverter energy efficient units That is actually a hundred percent complete Our fourth recommendation referred to the installation of three 25 kilowatt PV systems as per the audit Calculation proves that after effective Implementation of the above order recommendations the new level of consumption would require such system in order to be self-sufficient Installation and internal connections are fully complete. However, the system has not been tied back to Lucillex grid To facilitate the two-way return flow and the usage charge back arrangement these are just pictures of the Systems that we have put in the new panel systems and our new inverters and the following is a picture of the Company as it is stands right now the one in the middle with all the solar panels is one of our buildings We have two buildings building to your Left right Is also ours and But because of the roof structure, it was recommended that we use one building for all the the panels Savings, which is what we all want to hear Until our solar panels are connected to the Lucillex grid We will not enjoy and record the true savings potential However, we have already recorded a monthly savings of over $6,000 for our March 2023 Energy expense as compared to the same period the year before Installing the solar panels is completed Our electrical upgrade as I mentioned is 90% completed Our project is now at the face connected to Lucillex grid However, we are waiting extensions to our original no approvals which have expired at this point I want to say thank you The project encompassed a vast span of service providers without whom we would not be at this stage I first wish to thank David Bristol his son Jack and their gearing up team who worked closely with us for months Maybe yes, not even months now To determine the exact solar power fit for our company While covert and supply chain challenges cause significant delays to the Receipt of the equipment once received the installation and connection We'll complete it quickly and without mine with minor interruption to our operation David and his team also work closely with our electrician Jordan Rages and our air-condition providers precise services to ensure each phase was completed efficiently with again minor interruptions to our operation We are so grateful to the craft team and the CDF team for the confidence they placed in us and our project Their support through the project causes to fulfill our energy efficiency goal for our castries operation Three solution companies were actually identified as a pilot projects For solution and all of the other companies did not follow through with their projects. We are grateful that craft and CDF Saw us through with ours Recommendation it has been a long road and we have not reached our final destination yet However, the journey has been rewarding with very rare expense reduction benefits and upgrades to critical aspects of our business I'm sure everyone in here is searching for improved efficiencies in their business and in eagerness to reduce your energy costs If so, I can totally recommend the experience the journey and the relationships and assistance you can build on here today Thank you Thank you so much for your presentation miss runway I did notice that a few persons had some questions If you could kindly write down and save them until the question and answer segment that would be greatly appreciated We now have mr. David Bristow who will come up and say a couple words not a few Good morning, everyone. It's absolute pleasure to be here minister King Awesome from the NERC all the friends and the faces that I've known over the years It today is an exciting day. It's exciting because usually you go to meetings and you have a lot of aspirational talk It's exciting when you come to a meeting and you heard something has been done And I think this is the most important thing a big congratulations to the those who had the vision And those who've done what they had to do to get this done most important I want to take you on a whirlwind tour through our involvement in it and And how that went about because everybody has to go through the same thing You know, I don't have to go through the craft thing because that's now established But the rest of it so 21st of October 2019. I you know, I drive from view for I live at the opposite end almost nice and Vincent and Came to the north term meeting at beer standards something about craft and we have many acronyms I thought here's another acronym. What is this craft about a credit risk abatement facility? we met with a Consultant and there were a few of us there. Dr. Isaacs myself Can't remember who else was there. Maybe you were there and We started this talk and I thought oh here we go, you know, this is going to be another one But I understood it to be and I hope it's clear now what it is it really is based on a South African model if I recall correctly of providing security for financing institutions to people who want to press ahead with energy efficiency and and renewable energy measures and It sounded like a very good thing and of course from 2019 as you know by march Our country was locked down with COVID We may forget about it, but it was actually quite a challenging time for everyone. Certainly for a business trying to Move from where they are to using renewable energy and implementing these things and for the craft to be implemented We managed to get it done and what that involved was so We were actually contracted by GFA, which was a a German Company who were working for another acronym tab sec, which is a which is a program run by the German technical corporation and that stands for technical assistance program for for energy Sustainable energy. Yes. Thank you very much. Yeah and The plan was how do you go about this and obviously the technical assistance to be provided was They selected three companies in st. Lucia where we operate and We were asked to carry out A procedure that would end up with projects that could actually work To measures for these three companies And of course these three companies would then go to their lending institution and craft would provide the security So what we did was we did basically targeted audits We didn't do general audits, but we did what you might call a level one Which is walking around a facility and saying you need to change these to led lights It doesn't take much to say that does it, you know So you have that kind of basis what they call the low hanging fruit in energy audit And Cheryl had already started doing that or any so it wasn't something new but it needed to continue And I tell you based on our experience We had a client in Grenada And we just did that same walk through and told them change to led and the next month Their electricity bill had gone down by six thousand dollars Just from that So we know the things that work. They're not high tech as such because the technology has been around so long What is what is the high tech part Is looking at the options that are available now for energy efficiency and the renewable energy options and remember they're not just They're not just confined to solar electricity They also include things like micro grids energy storage Electric vehicles because when we think of energy in central we primarily use electricity But of course other places like hotels they use LPG and CNG, you know the gases And of course people don't think about their fleets their fleets also use energy And our fleets primarily depend on petroleum So when you look at all of the audit and you look at the solutions You need to take all these solutions and there are tie-ins between them in the case of What we were proposing as energy efficiency measures for Renwick work came down to very simple things led lights We carried out energy logging using a standard certified A device that we connected to their electricity supply because your main energy supply is electricity And we were able to create Profiles of how they use their energy during the day And remember it's really a daytime business except for the refrigeration and cooling that happens at night time Which is minimal the interesting tie-in and the nice thing Is that solar electricity works during the day and for businesses that operate primarily during the day It is the ideal thing and you know, we have the best sunshine in the world. So it's taken for granted And what we were able to do is run various models in terms of systems including things like electric vehicles in the mix and look to see What would be the options that would work best? And having done that we came up with the recommendations Again, we presented those recommendations to TAPSEC And based on that they then presented the information to Cheryl and her team And the the other two companies we did the same with them and we remember we had a mix of companies. So we had Blue Ocean who do the fish They obviously a very heavy refrigeration based company They have they need power at night time as well. So solar maybe is not necessarily the only thing they need They need other stuff as well. And of course Caribbean grains, which is you know, it's big I mean, there are lots of electric machines Their solution was different Caribbean grains, the solution was to upgrade to more Energy efficient motors because that's what runs their conveyor belts. They're milling their grinding, etc But of course, they also have a delivery fleet which you could electrify So what we started with Renick is for now, but it's meant to be expandable So if they have surplus power, there's nothing stopping them from putting it into an electric vehicle as a mobile battery So there is an awful lot that can be done But the process must include proper energy analysis, especially when it comes to electricity To give you the best bangs for your buck in how you spend that money So without saying much more, I think the thing is I'm glad to hear that the NERC is pressing ahead with things I think we all want to see I think that we want to make sure we don't stymie innovation because there's a lot of innovation happening in the world And remember whatever happens here, it happens everywhere else The challenges globally for financing for renewable energy to give comfort to investors Is necessary all over the world. So all the central banks worldwide have taken up this mantle So I'm glad to see that all banks have taken it up and we have something as good as the craft. I encourage everybody to Try and get as much knowledge today to liaise with Wayne and his team And let us see if we can make one Renick into many thousand Renicks Thank you very much We want more to dream to empower people and business St. Lucia Development Bank supporting lending developing buildings I wonder is our next presenter given that video Mr. Cornelia Sidoni managing director of the Lucia Development Bank Kindly take the floor Very good morning to all. I wish to adopt the protocols that are already established but of course It would be remiss of me if I don't Say special greetings to the senior minister And the rest of the persons on the head table We all have taken the time energy an initiative to be here today To discuss opportunities and financing for renewable energy and energy efficiency This project identification forum Serves as another very important step by curriculum development fund cdf To further impact the renewable energy and energy efficiency infrastructure of st Lucia As a catalyst for national development Providing financing for renewable energy and energy efficiency was automatic for sldb Actually in 2016 sldb secured funding From the world bank under the climate adaptation financing facility To finance renewable energy energy energy efficiency and climate related projects In 2020 the curriculum development fund established the credit risk abatement facility as we were told And essentially to support the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the caribbean The craft provides guarantees to ms me's That are unable to offer security for projects of that nature sldb Sighted an opportunity and immediately joined the craft as the first financial institution in st Lucia and the caribbean To do so sldb's vision was to marry the financing From the world bank at a concessionary rate To the guarantee provided by the craft To the benefit of our sme customers Of course as you heard earlier Renwick and company became the very first company in st Lucia to qualify for the craft guarantee I must commend the rend rick and company for being proactive in detecting the opportunities and cost savings in renewable energy and energy efficiency When rend rick approached the bank for financing the company did not have professional renewable energy advice nor did it have an energy audit And so an energy audit was commissioned With funds and support from cdf as you heard earlier To determine the company's renewable energy and energy efficiency requirements There was an urgent need of course to reduce electricity costs, especially in light of the coven 19 pandemic and its effect on the company The audit revealed that there would be definite cost savings for the company if it implemented the recommendations With that information at hand sldb was able to put together a package for the company Which included of course the security guarantee from the craft We were also able to give them a loan um with interest rate below the market rates and we also Worked out a grant for them as a total package and that is the kind of thing that the development bank is there to do To see how we could work with our customers and provide them with various aspects of Financing and advice It was interesting and rewarding working with Renwick and company and cdf and we There were some valuable lessons learned I must admit It would be remiss of me if I did not mention our experience with cdf during the process The general consensus from sldb staff is that working with cdf on the craft guarantee has been a pleasurable experience The cdf team displays a high level of professionalism willingness to assist flexibility and agility They are not invasive and they do not get involved with the loan and the writing Through the craft sldb was able to benefit from institutional strengthening via various training programs As our climate adaptation financing facility the car funding comes to a close in june sldb is in the final stages of developing and obtaining financing for a new climate finance product sldb will be proud to incorporate a green arm into our branding This component Of our offering will seek to provide families homes and especially small and medium enterprise businesses with technical and financial assistance for re and ee projects We will continue to work closely with cdf and the craft To benefit our msme's With the security guarantee coupled with competitive and attractive interest terms You will hear a lot more about this exciting product in the coming months In closing I must commend and say kudos to mr. Ronald sumer And mr. Wayne vitalists and the rest of the cdf team For conceptualizing such an important and transformative product targeted targeted at our sms I thank you. Thank you so much. Mr. Sidoni By any chance, would you like to give us A bit more insight as to the name of the green arm that sldb will be launching Would you like to give us a bit more insight as maybe a little sneak peek at For the name of the green arm that sldb will be launching just the name I think the crowd will appreciate the name. That's the name, right? Give them a little taste Green Helen of st. Lucia development bank, so A good round of applause for that initiative I'm very sure they have some exciting Activities and priority priority areas coming in the next few months And now we are moving on to the honorable Stephen King Senior minister of Infrastructure, ports, transport, physical development, and urban renewal Thank you very much, madam mistress Of ceremonies Having sat comfortably Listening to all of the other presentations made I thought the keynote address now should be I thank you Because there's so much information Which is given And to some extent which covers The composition of my presentation here this morning But notwithstanding, I will take the opportunity To recognize Those On the platform Who have participated thus far In This morning's ceremony Let me also recognize The officials from government, the head of the energy unit, Mr. Gelad Representative of The Embassy of the Republic of Taiwan, of China on Taiwan Mr. Medford Francis from the Bank of St. Lucia Other distinguished government officials, distinguished Representatives Of the chamber of commerce Mr. Brown-Louisey and other members of the chamber Distinguished ladies and gentlemen Members of SM Representatives rather of the SMEs who are here today I must indicate that I am indeed delighted To have been restored this distinguished honor As keynote speaker And this CARICOM Development Fund Renewable Energy An energy efficiency project Identification forum On the theme Transforming SMEs By unlocking finance and accelerating sustainable projects It is encouraging To note that 18 years Ever since the establishment Of the CDF Under Article 158 of the Revised Treaty of Shagoramas The Fund remains steadfast to its mandate Of providing financial and technical assistance To disadvantaged countries Regions and sectors The Fund The focal point of the regimes mentioned in Article 142 Of the Revised Treaty Was intended to erase the social and economic disparities Among member states To engender economic viability through robust and successful competition Within the community Today's event brings into perspective The realization and awareness of the disparities Which currently exist in the potential of And capacity for renewable energy and energy efficiency Among member states in CARICOM Particularly the less developed countries of the OECS and Belize This project identification forum is critical And most timely at this juncture And calls for a realistic perspective and analysis of SMEs Awareness, preparedness, and capacity necessary To respond to and venture into The global thrust towards renewable energy And energy efficiency This is absolutely necessary As we aspire to not only obtain renewable energy and energy efficiency With the hope of reducing our dependence on fossil fuel And by extension energy costs But more specifically reducing our carbon footprints That should allow St. Lucia And the region to meet our climate obligations As highlighted by our respective nationally determined contributions A snapshot of CARICOM's indicators reveals That the 20 members and associated members of the Caribbean community Better known as CARICOM Contribute only a small fraction of the global carbon emissions However, there's some countries However, these same countries are among the most vulnerable To the negative impacts of climate change-driven extreme weather events Failure to adapt presents an existential threat Furthermore, the energy sectors of virtually all of the region's countries Need to diversify away from the high dependency on volatile Fossil fuel sources and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives A key element in making electricity systems more climate resilience and less costly Must come from commercial and industrial companies Particularly the many small and medium enterprises Through the investments in on-site distributed generation systems And energy efficient projects Renewable energy distributed generation and energy efficiency systems Offer many micro and macro benefits to commercial and industrial companies And to countries in the region as a whole Such systems increase electricity system resilience By eliminating vulnerability and vulnerable and transmission distribution lines They provide cheaper and more reliable energy To commercial and industrial companies Making them more profitable and competitive And they reduce energy imports And contribute to countries' efforts to meet the Paris Accord's targets However, the distributed generation and energy efficiency markets in the Caribbean Have grown at a much slower rate than expected One major hurdle to the growth of the market for these systems in the Caribbean Has been the lack of financing for the hardware Commercial and industrial companies do not want or may not be able Or may not be able to pay upfront for such systems Especially when they are not familiar with the technology Concurrently banks are reluctant to provide financing to commercial and industrial enterprises For the purchase of equipment again With which they are not familiar without high collateralization Finally, energy performance contracting companies Developing distributed generation and energy efficiency systems Do not have the financial capacity to provide long-term financing to their customers Besides, there are very few experienced bankable EPC installers Through which investors, all-enders can channel financing While the economic drivers for such investments remain The impact of the current COVID-related economic crisis Will cause further delays in the adaptation of distributed generation and energy efficiency In the Caribbean, just at the time When the Caribbean should be focusing on hardening its electricity systems And making its local economies more competitive in the international markets Construction and industrial companies and especially SMEs Throughout the Caribbean will be forced to defer discretionary investments In distributed generation and energy efficiency To refocus on only critical expenditures The downstream ramifications of this will include One, caracum economies will remain vulnerable to extreme weather events For even longer during a time when extreme weather events are expected to increase Two, construction and industrial companies will continue to pay high prices for energy Making them less efficient in an even more competitive international marketplace Three, Caribbean countries will continue to be heavily reliant on important fossil fuels During a time potentially major volatility in market prices And four, energy performance contracting installers Will struggle to stay in business as a market shrinks Potentially depleting a decade's worth of accumulated local experience and expertise in the sector For St. Lucia in particular, the government has long recognized the need for increasing renewable energy penetration With increased use of indigenous renewables As a key step to building economic resilience Also, our nationally determined contribution NDC Establishes a mitigation target of 7% of greenhouse gas emissions reduction In the energy sector by the year 2030 Additionally, the St. Lucia National Energy Transition Strategy And Integrated Resource Plan Propose a cost-efficient and technologically advantageous electricity generation menu This is in line with the energy market reforms being undertaken by the government Aimed at increasing private sector participation in the renewable energy generation market Our nationally appropriate mitigation actions, NAMA targets Include 20% reduction in energy consumption To be achieved by the year 2025 To achieve these targets, significant strides will need to be made In all sectors of the economy To drive the strategic targets to update renewable energy and energy efficient solutions Permit me this opportunity to update you on the Renewable Energy Sector Development Project Geothermal An initiative aimed at confirming and characterizing our geothermal resource For economic power generation The exploration management company or consultancy firm Is expected on island very soon to guide the geothermal drilling process Likewise, government is in the advanced stages of preparation For approval of the Caribbean Green and Efficient Building Project Which aims to decrease energy demand in government buildings While incorporating solar PV and solar thermal applications In a transformation manner I must also mention government's progressive announcement in this year's budget policy statement To provide further incentives on the importation of solar PV systems And components by removing that While this is significant We recognize that access to finance remains a challenge And even in instances where financing is readily available There is a lack of technically sound and bankable proposals That can stand up to the scrutiny of most financial institutions on one hand And a lack of understanding to assess the risks of these new technologies on the other Eminent from the current situation It is recognized that significant knowledge gaps do exist in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space The Caricom Development Fund has created the Credit Risk Abatement Facility To primarily address access to funding challenges Which has limited the deployment of renewable And energy efficiency technologies in CDF member states CRAF aims to incentivize additional lending from local financing institutions For renewable energy and energy efficiency interventions I am aware that the facility seeks to support Lending With a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises In all productive sectors With specific emphasis on the tourism Agriculture and manufacturing sectors CRAF will achieve its mandate through an ecosystem Involving a credit risk instrument A technical assistance program tap And a robust monitoring and evaluation framework CRAF, in my view, represent a paradigm shift In the way forward on in renewable energy and energy efficiency And as financed in the region It allows for a wider spectrum of businesses To access financing for project implementation Hence, SMEs That would not normally qualify To access loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency implementation Are now able to do so as a result of the partial risk guarantee offer As part of the CRAF credit risk instrument CRAF is underpinned by a cohesive ecosystem Which brings together all the necessary players In this space To improve access to finance and the quality of projects developed All geared at increasing the uptake of renewable energy And energy efficiency solutions Integral to this ecosystem Is the financial institutions Which lend to SMEs using existing liquidity Also, within this ecosystem are energy service providers, ESPs And energy service companies Who are responsible for implementing bespoke Or tailored solutions for SMEs Fundamental to the advancement and suitability of CRAF Is the technical assistance program Which is free to all CRAF partners in the ecosystem It is anticipated that much will be discussed later On how to gain access into such facilities I am undeniably excited over what looms ahead on the horizon For small, medium enterprises And their potential transformation in the renewable and energy efficiency sector Let me therefore commend the Karakam Development Fund on this bold initiative And welcome the CRAF project identification program to St. Lucia I wish you all every success for this event and beyond I thank you Thank you so much for those remarks Dr. Honorable King And you raised a very good point in speaking about us here in the Caribbean Being the ones who impact the environment the least But we are still yet the most vulnerable to weather patterns And other natural entities that would, as you know, destroy us Being that we are so small So that's why there is a Belizean saying that goes one, one, or curl the basket Which simply means it takes each and every one of us collectively To make a very strong effort in realizing the opportunities And the advantages of moving to a greener, more sustainable Environment and business practices We now have another poll coming up As you can see once again, scan the QR code Or type in slido.com and input the pin And please assist us with providing your feedback on the questions What is the main reason why banks decline loan for renewable energy And emerging energy in St. Lucia A, lack of collateral by borrower B, borrower's poor cash flow C, the bank's, oi, it's going, okay, okay, okay The bank's lack of knowledge of the technology And I missed one, didn't I? Poor project proposals submitted by the borrower Those are all very valid concerns of financial institutions Which I'm sure the presence of both the St. Lucia Development Bank And the Bank of St. Lucia here today They can assist you with those once we wrap up with our forum for today I see it's still going In the lead, we have lack of collateral by the borrower Coming in second As the main reason why banks decline loans for REE Is that the poor project proposals are being submitted by the borrower And leading very closely behind in third The bank's lack of knowledge of the technology And lastly, borrower's poor cash flow Mr. Burke, do we still have answers flowing in, coming in? Okay, we'll take a couple more seconds If you haven't assisted us with answering, kindly do so So we can get a bit more insight And we are, we're good So with 45% answer rate, lack of collateral by borrower is In your opinion, one of the main reasons why banks decline loans For REE and EE specifications in St. Lucia Now I know prior, a lot of you had some questions So we now enter the question and answer segment for the forum I now call on, I now call on all of you to formulate your questions a bit better If you have more than one question, write it down Because our team is getting prepared to come and facilitate that segment for you We will have a roving mic, a roving mic throughout the floor To assist you with doing that Ma'am, are you allergic to the question and answer segment? I'm so sorry I'm so sorry Just one slight change Yeah, just one slight change We're just going to have first a video interview for Bank of St. Lucia And then we'll have a quick presentation by the craft team And then we'll have a crest and an answer session Okay, well, just a subtle change in the agenda But nevertheless, we have everything coming your way in just a bit I am Aleta Ratting chair, senior manager retail banking at Bank of St. Lucia Today, I am here to tell you about the partnership Which Bank of St. Lucia has with the Karakam Development Fund This partnership entails the guarantee of financing for our small medium enterprise businesses This means that you, our customers can access loans for the conversion And implementation of more sustainable and efficient operations for your small businesses Bank of St. Lucia is pleased to partner with the Karakam Development Fund Through the credit risk abitment facility to provide you our customers with funding For the purpose of sustainable solution and making your businesses more efficient We look forward to serving you in the future Please access our SME officers at any of our branches and we will be happy to serve you Thank you And now ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned just a short while ago We are now entering our question and answer segment We will do this as orderly as we possibly can So with the gentle rays of your hand You got me back With the gentle rays of your hand Our team member will walk around with the mic You ask your question and we will be answering it for you So just just one second I know you have that question burning deep in But just give us one second We're just going to make a quick presentation and then we'll answer all your questions All right, all right, good Thank you Am I the only one who had to adjust the microphone? I hope not Protocol haven't been established Senior Minister Stevenson King CEO of CDF Mr. Rodin Osuma Distinguished guests On our platform Invited guests But most importantly small and medium size enterprises This forum today is for you This forum is to address some of the critical barriers that you have been faced with In implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency Investments in your businesses And I know you've spent a significant amount of time here this morning Listening to speeches and presentations And I stand between you and the more exciting part of the forum today Which is actually booking appointments with us to visit your businesses And discuss in some greater detail your project And for us to determine the level or the amount of technical assistance you require And to move with haste to deliver that technical assistance to you And so I'm pleased this morning to see that you've turned out with brave hearts High hopes and in massive numbers But after all the speeches here today Two very critical questions remain that we must answer in plain language What is in it for you? And when we've answered that question we must also answer How do you avail yourself of what is in it for you? So we hope very quickly to answer those questions through our presentation But in order for us to do that we must Is that the clicker? Yeah In order for us to do that we must explain to you what we're trying to do Earlier on our CEO mentioned that the CDF's involvement in the renewable energy And energy efficiency space and on the Characum wider general energy agenda Is rooted in our desire to see businesses become more competitive And also to promote their development and expansion And in doing so we do so through two arms The first arm provides direct financing for projects But those projects must go through the government of the country In which those products are to be undertaken But that's the direct arm The second arm is to say listen We want to create a market mechanism that facilitates and supports The key stakeholders in the energy space locally to work together And to increase financing for those small and medium sized enterprises who are vulnerable And we do so you heard a lot of talk this morning about an ecosystem We do so by creating an ecosystem of interdependent players In three main categories The first is on the demand side what we refer to as the main beneficiaries of ARI and EE investment And that is small and medium sized enterprises They are the ones with the need They are the ones who will be left holding the higher cost of energy if they don't make that transition Both for renewable energy and also for energy efficiency So they are the first category and the most important category to us But in order to do that there must be a category of entities In the in the market that helps with the technical know-how that helps to Put projects together that are bankable and can be considered by a financial institution And those we refer to as the energy service providers So when you hear talk of things like energy audits and solutions to energy needs And things of that nature these are the ones with the technical know-how now that form part of our ecosystem and are important The third category is the one with whom we consider our counterparties we sign an agreement with them And those are the suppliers of finance The banks and the the financial institution in countries Are sitting on a significant amount of liquidity And it is time that we get some way to help those financial institutions become comfortable To lend to smaller medium sized enterprises so smaller medium size For for arian ee And that is part of our focus here and that is the ecosystem that we refer to in an interdependent way So but you haven't seen craft Where does craft come in Craft comes in as You know that support system on the side through three main pillars Helping the financial institutions Helping the sms and also helping the energy service providers through three main pillars one A credit risk instrument The second is a technical assistance program that is targeted and integrated into the into the system to help Move and drive those projects from concept to market And kenrick will speak a little later on about The technical assistance program and the amount of hand holding that is done In order to get those projects to a stage where they can be considered And I will speak a little later on and how we come to close that circle by supporting the financial institutions to to to help And to make these investments comfortable so This in a nutshell describes Or you know describes what we are trying to do here, which is the indirect and market mechanism Arm of us. It's important when we leave here today. We're not joking around Wait, this is we deliberately structured this conference to end at 12 30 enough for the long talk Time for us now to get your projects. You come to us in the projects We make a book in we will come to you because your business very busy persons. We're going to come to your your Your establishments discuss your projects determine the amount of technical assistance you require and then provide the technical assistance to you Thank you. Thank you Good morning again everyone and following on from the protocol already established I'm just going to highlight to you what this technical assistance provides and and how to access this technical assistance again, this technical assistance is Not sure. It's free free of charge This takes off significant burden off of the SMEs in terms of finding solution for your RE or EE projects, right? so CDF will pay for an expert to Come to your facility review your energy use and device or help you to devise solutions that you can actually implement at no cost to you all right And this is available for all SMEs That can be guaranteed undercraft and I I must kind of explain this that can be guaranteed undercraft Currently we have two financial institutions that are actually signed on to craft. So technically Institutions that wants to be guaranteed undercraft has to go to those financial institutions for now until we have other financial institutions that are signed on In terms of projects that are eligible This must be an SME that requires funding to implement So if it's a case where you have an issue with funding for implementing project, you can assist there The project is transformative as it's making a change like aquaponics different technologies that that is you know Improving what is happening within your workspace and the project without craft The project normally would not have happened So if it's a case where somebody has sufficient collateral and can actually go and do the investment on their own Then that's not a project that is required for craft So in terms of the technical assistance, there is no maximum amount in terms of what can be provided The technical assistance again is free to all partners And in terms of the technical assistance, we offer to the SMEs we offer to the financial institutions and we also offer to The energy service providers. So we are looking at building capacity in all aspects of the ecosystem Right and again, it is focused. So we want to have bespoke solutions to each of our Technical assistance, so it must lead towards our project implementation at the end In terms of eligible technologies All forms of renewable energy. So wind turbines solar geothermal Sustainable biogas Waste to energy all those different source of renewable energies Actually eligible on the craft in terms of energy efficiency It's solar. I mean LEDs. It's inverter technologies. It's very variable frequency drives Anything that helps you to be more efficient in your energy use Is also here We also have it in terms of energy management. So if you're going to install a building management system That also is included and we also have auxiliary technologies What is batch storage or if you're looking at combined heat for large Facilities that as well too Is eligible on the craft Again, one of the things that you're looking for here is solutions and there are different solutions that will be tailored for different industries as I said for Agriculture, I mean you have the opportunity for biomass You have solar pumps You have different solutions that will come out specific for the agriculture Sector, then you also have you know for the manufacturing for the retail And for the tourism you have also a different solution whether it's arie or ee That again will be burned out of the technical assistance So some will come to your facility look at what your energy consumption is and then develop a solution for that technical assistance How do you access this technical assistance? all right Technique there the achieves basically we have an online portal that will be up and running in june All right, so you can can access that at craft.org We also have referral from the banks So if you go to a final institution and the final institution See that you have a project but the project itself needs to be refined a bit further They can refer you to us to assist you with that and there's a golden opportunity today So if you look in your your agenda at the back of the agenda, you'll see a cure our code Right that cure code you can scan it and you can make Basically book for an appointment what we'll do we'll take the information We'll give you a call later today and we will schedule to visit your facility to do what we call level one audit just to review what your consumption is come up with some ideas and see what are not you require further technical assistance All right If you are needed to actually scan the cure code We'll also have persons at the back that can allow you to actually register for us to actually visit your facility And as I say if you have a project and you're having challenges Even if you don't have a project, but you think that there might be an opportunity For us to assist you to to decide on what potential project that can be devised for your facility You can also register and then we'll pay your visit while we're here The visits will be conducted from Wednesday afternoon Until Friday evening. So we're here for two and a half days And if if the the numbers are great, then we may have the opportunity to extend to providers. So again Um, it's free of charge There's I can't take for a reason why you will not take up this opportunity. It's a perfect opportunity, right? And Well, you've heard from kenrick on the technical assistance side We now have to close the circle because it makes no sense that you have an energy audit You have an energy solution, but you cannot implement it for one Or another reason access to financing We are coming around now to say to close the circle by providing credit enhancement Through our credit risk instrument to financial institutions We are starting off at this juncture with a partial risk guarantee But there are other credit enhancement products that we will unveil in the future Which will Broaden the support that we can give to financial institutions and the incentives we can give to financial institutions That will be down to your benefit in the final analysis So this credit risk instrument would Provide as I said a suite of credit enhancement products And we're starting off with a credit a partial risk guarantee where we are Offering up to 80% coverage on principal and interest for loans that Where the sponsors or the SMEs are unable to provide collateral or They're able to provide collateral, but the bank is reluctant because the cash flow needs a little support And by implementing the project it will free up some cash flow in order to repay the investment That is the two instances on the which we would intervene on behalf of the SME They are available for projects for as As small as 25,000 u.s. Dollars It was larger 750,000 u.s. Dollars for some of the larger projects these are Of course we We have taken a broad view of financial institutions So not only commercial banks And development banks eligible to sign on as Finances on the craft, but any fund included energy service companies who have deep pockets or credit unions Who are lending to businesses will qualify as a financial institution on the craft And we will provide the credit enhancement to them The maximum tenure of the loan should be no more than 10 years But of course there might be instances where a compelling case can be made to go outside of that Of that parameter And we will entertain it We are not excluding any sector So agriculture you are important to us Manufacturing you are important to us retail You are important to us tourism you are important to us. So we will be We will be entertaining all sectors on the under the program and of course Our facility would be priced In united states dollars, but at a very very very concessional rate And i'm sure that that will Um need some further clarification later on in the question and answer period But what distinguishes us from Other facilities that exist in the region one The ecosystem approach that we've taken there's no other facility that has taken that And you know when you have a good thing persons copy and I know that they are development finance institutions International who have Copied some of our approach I know that so that means we're doing something good. So the ecosystem approach Creates a ring of assurance To all of those involved in the ecosystem that they will get support to work We have bespoke technical assistance program that is integrated into our program to ensure its success The fact that we've taken a broader view of financial institutions means that the pool is wider for financing for sms who may have Relationships with any financial institution And also the fact that we have now decided that Through the the the craft that we are not Going to discriminate. We are going to be we're going to build craft with sufficient flexibility To support local condition because we we're rolling that throughout the Caribbean our member states All countries are signed on to the care come single market and economy will be eligible for for the craft And because we are rolling that out as a regional program We now need to take Into account local conditions In all of the various countries and we've built that level of flexibility into craft So that is what distinguishes us ladies and gentlemen. We've closed it So to answer the question that I started off with what's in it for you You get you get technical assistance that you do not have to pay for once Secondly you get support To implement your project that will lead to savings On energy costs in your businesses that you could use for expansion and for other purposes And you have a team that will work with you and handhold you through the process throughout And with the financial institutions, we will be providing support to the financial institutions to understand those projects To tailor the financing to the peculiarities of That sector and to better serve you in the end. Thank you All right, so We're gonna have the question and answer session now So just raise your hands and there's a roving mic that will actually come to you and We provide some answers again I'll ask persons use the QR code scan it and Make an appointment with us to visit your facility Someone will call you before the end of the day to give you an appointment date Can I go ahead? Good morning. How is everybody? That's good Welcome. Thanks. Thanks. I'm Cora I have a few questions. Um, you answered what's in it for me. What's in it for you? Is my question so What I'm asking when you do provide me with the technical support the All the support that you provide me with what's in it for you So karekum development fund is a is a regional development institution What we want to see is our region development. That is what is for us So we want to see development in the region. So that's that's the benefit for us Okay, do you by any chance get a percentage of the company? My company for example, if I qualify no, no, no, we don't we don't your success Is our success? It's your it's just yeah, you get high of the success of my company success. Yes Okay I have a few questions if that's fine. Sure. Okay um Miss renwick You mentioned the panels and you should The panels on the building on the roof I had a question Does the panel cover just the building it's on or it powers other surrounding buildings which are yours It powers both buildings. It powers both buildings with just the panels being on one building. Yes full capacity Um, we have three We have 325 kilowatt, but because we're not completed It it's a little difficult for me to Tell you the full You know benefits does But we anticipate but just from what we've done so far That we should see a almost zero out But we don't have a battery. That's the important thing to note So anything we're using at night is from the grid Okay So if you manufacture, I guess that's the right word enough during the day um It goes back to the grid and then there is a sort of a How did they call it? Net metering so Loose like would then charge us for what we use at the evening But the chart credit us for what we we give in the day And that's the system that's still being discussed As to how Okay And let's say I am renting from somebody right Do I need permission from my landlord if I do qualify to get the panels? Certainly full craft sorry but you you Yes, the the the short answer to that is certainly you will need permission to Because we don't want a situation and and and perhaps that's a question more suited to the financial institution Who would be the one making in the very first instance? The decision to lend to you or not Right So they would now need to ensure that all of the risks are taken into account I don't want to end up in a situation. I presume when mr. Sidone feel free to intervene if you need to um Or mr. Mr. Francis They would need to make sure that they don't install solar panels where you don't have permission And two or three months down the line you're asked to remove it and you have nowhere to put it All right, so that is that is a short answer for it But you asked a question a little earlier and I just want to address one small aspect of it Recall our chief executive officer started off saying that the cdf mandate was to assist disadvantaged countries regions and sectors that includes Privacy the private sector Okay, so just the fulfillment of our mandate given to us by the heads of government who was specific Who was specific in in in developing our mandates to um for the region This here is in fulfillment of that and we are happy to just fulfill that with no Benefit to us in the sense of our monetary benefit to the cdf Okay, thanks um The panels Miss Oh, okay, sorry Yeah, okay. Yeah, let me just respond to her question regarding um the landlords authorization before your If you put it on solar panels before you could get the financing from the institution You would require approval from the nuke and The approval process requires that you either Present a land register to show that you're the owner of the property Or you get an authorization letter from your landlord um Allowing you to put on these solar panels So that you don't get trapped Um having done it before and then you don't get approval from the nuke So I just wanted to inform you of that. Thank you Um, it's on the same subject. So I don't want to you know backtrack Um, is it covered by insurance? For example, if something happens, can it be easily replaced? Is it at any cost to me? Thank you Yeah, again, that's a question in my view suited for the the financial institutions to to respond to in terms of if it's covered by insurance, but of course just just um the the the What I would the the best approach would be that you have your equipment covered by insurance But then that would be at your in my instead that would be at your you must have some skin in the game Okay So you everything if everything is done to you we invited moral hazard and we we don't want to do that Okay, question next Okay, good day everyone. Um, my name is Roxanne. Martha. Yes. So, uh, in a case where I recall you all saying that, um, well craft of course saying that, um You visit institutions. What if in a case that a business is endeavoring to acquire? um a land space or Any other tool you wrecked an institution. Can that be funded as well? You mean a business that's already established is trying to build a new facility? Yes Okay. Yeah, all of these things that I think, um, can make it in the permissible Projects that would be included in it because you've already been established But you just building out a new facility and you want to either make it, um Better more efficient or you want to generate stroller. That's fine. That's included Um, good day to all I came in a little late just want to ask a few questions. Um Um This craft just provide the technical assistance when it comes to the pvs or is it all around? Do we go to you say for instance? Okay. I want to get a unit in um Do I go to the nuke first to get approval and to Um to you madame Um, do you guys cover? standalone units or units that that have to be connected to the grid Yeah We okay. There's a question we That's for you. No, no in in in one small bar The the the issue is that we we support we support both off grid and on grid systems So we we we we don't discriminate where that is concerned. Okay. Um in terms of regulatory requirements Again the financial institution remember the decision to lend to you or not to lend to you is the financial Institutions own but we don't even have to go to the nuke to get approval And then go to the financing is financial institutions. Is that That can be done in my view that can be done simultaneously. So it's not a what I call bureaucratic process Um in terms of doing that we we try to do be as flexible as possible But of course you could you could begin to develop your project you have it you could approach the financial institutions But you will need to get that what I think um senator Sure is is saying to use listen Don't get yourself stuck In a situation where you would have skipped a critical step And when you've come to implement you realize that you have not done that So come to the nuke to find out what is required hence the reason We're trying not to jump the gun. So we go to her first Uh, oh, we we go to the nuke first and they will advise us as to the steps to take for instance, what unit you should Um purchase. So if you're ordering a unit No, I don't am I am I wrong I don't think no, I don't think I came in a little late. So I yeah, hold on. Hold on. Yeah, no come Yeah, what we're encouraging is that you You go to you come to the nuke or you check our website for the requirements for your application Um, your system must be u l and i triple e certified um And so before you order that system you have to ensure that it's compliant um Our the jurisdiction that we have comes from the legislation which allows for Us to regulate interconnected systems. So it means that if you're off-grid We would not you do even know What you're doing, but we we try to discourage the off-grid systems um, why because We would not know the electrical department in the ministry of infrastructure Would not know whether it is compatible with our grid with the national grid The safety standards and so on would not be inspected if you do it on your own then that is fine But for us to regulate if you're off-grid, we will not know about you And so if there's any difficulty Which can lead to your property or your system Being defective or anything like that. We would not have it But we're not preventing you from doing it. We're just saying That according to the law, we can only regulate Interconnected systems. So the off-grid systems you guys are not covering the off-grid systems. The law does not allow us to That is interesting Yeah, because it is Why we regulate is because it's you're interconnected With the national grid and we have to protect that national grid. Yes. So the the whole system of monitoring and inspections um Would Can be will be done together with the electrical department in the department of infrastructure And and loose select does their own inspections as well But if you're off-grid and you don't go through that process, then we will not be I will not know about it. Yes. I quite understand But just one thing you did mention that loose select has a license to operate for 80 years, right? Yes What happens after I can't Two things let me make a distinction here Don't forget Our program our facility is distinct from regulatory facilities. I'm the regulatory process You as the entity would be guided by the technical person Energy service provider who knows the process and work you through that process Right. So the focus here today is not on the regulatory side The regulatory side will be dealt with by the energy service providers that you That we that will assist you with the project Yes, I would like to say good morning to all and I must also Reinforce that the presentations this morning have been quite impactful In fact, when I came here, I thought that I would be losing a different book But it is a tremendous occasion and I've learned a lot so far But you know when I came here this morning and I sat there is one thing behind my mind I must say my name is Sheldon winter. I operate a small business and I came here with one thing in my mind And that is how to save money on electricity And I learned quite a bit, but I still find there are some things that are a bit sketchy hence the reason for The repetition that you know an appointment need to be made So that an assessment can be made on your property whatever it is to You know determine, you know, what exactly is needed, but I still think That a module should have been provided When I say module what I mean is that Take for instance, my electricity bill is I'm being practical. Let's say four hundred dollars I would like to know in that four hundred dollars How much money must I spend on the panel or the whole system To eradicate that four hundred dollars and how much money I'll be paying over a period of 10 years as was mentioned Um to the banks and what you know, I I like the practical example So I thought that would have been provided Well, that's that's something that we considered and I think um, you're right I mean having that practical example will help you guide you a bit better So you understand your your bill you're spending as I say four five hundred dollars And what implication that that will have in terms of what size system you can afford based based on that Consumption and again as I say we wanted to make the appointment so that I could have that discussion a bit more one on one in in this discussion in relation to the persons Before we move on to the next question. I think this person here has been Wait in a while, so I'll go here first and then we'll come to that next question Hi, good morning everyone. Good morning to the head table My question is actually somewhat about the practical example and that was direct at miss renwick You gave the real figure of your savings of about six thousand dollars. It was on your March bill Could you just give us particularly? I'm considering that you have not done a full conversion as yet What percentage does that figure actually represent? So we have an idea of the types of the amount of savings As I say, we have not completed and we've done over the period of time We've done different things. So we put in the led lights. We actually put in a new Meter at the warehouse. So our electrician had said we were wasting a lot of energy With the wire coming from the front of the billet all the way to the back Where the air conditioned warehouses were running So it was being efficient In a lot of the things that we have done And as I say, we don't know now with the connection of loose electric So we've improved What we've done so far we've improved to give you an example last year our electricity bill And that includes before 18 to 21,000 Last month it was well at the end of March it was 12,000 So and that is and that's why I'm saying it does not mean we're not connected to the loose electric We're not getting that benefit yet That savings has come from us being efficient with the different things that we are doing Plus getting the benefit of the solar panels right now during the day Even though we're not connected Easily But it has varied because different things have happened over a year You know different things have happened. So it's kind of hard to see X amount was because of led X amount was because of the electrical X amount was because of the solar It was a a package deal. We looked at the entire thing and and have put in place all these changes Hi Hello Okay, hi, um, actually it was for miss renwick. I'm sorry you sat down before I got to But it was in relation to what you just said you said you're not connected as yet to the grid loose electric Um, can you mention what are the difficulties in you getting connected? And why why did this happen before you're even able to it was a process and cove it had a lot to do with it We did apply to nuke. We had our approvals from 2018 when we actually got to having the discussions with craft and so we they had expired and they extended it again for us that was in 2021 I think now that the panels are all connected because Of cove it there was a major delay in the panels reaching solution So once the panels were connected and the inspections were done um We then submitted everything to lucelac to find out that the nuke documents had expired again So we are in discussion with them right now We don't anticipate as we've been told it's within 24 hours. We would get it It's been a little bit more than that because they have changed documents Um, they want originals But the point is it's happening. It's it's not that you know, I guess time But it will Okay, I can go ahead Hi, so my question is so typically for I guess newer businesses or initiatives the cash flow from that is not immediate And so your ability to pay back the loan cannot be right away. I haven't seen any I guess in that circle any provisions for persons who are not able to pay right away and Typically, you know that if it's a new business or a small business that something that happens at a business Does not generate all the funding to pay back the loan. So is there going to be Anything to allow for maybe a grace period before you have to start back paying the loans because that's one of the things That has been a difficulty for our business All right. So as we said earlier, um in terms of the process of the bank, um, we do not get involved So whenever you go to to the bank in terms of that question, the bank will actually provide that information Again, because we do not dictate who the bank lend the funds to Yeah, it's thank you very much for that question. I think it's it's quite relevant Um, we will look at every specific customer circumstances And we will make a judgment call in terms of What you have just asked in terms of a grace period obviously for some customers They can start the payment immediately for others, it might be a strain and I just want to say I want to take the opportunity this morning to really say that This program addresses two critical elements of lending one being the collateral And the second being the cash flow Okay What this project what is inherent in this project is that you immediately create A cash inflow to your organization Through the savings that would service the loan Okay, so that's one of the compelling aspects Of this program for banks and that this is why bank ascent lusia sped Not even a moment thought in coming on board because we realize that it addresses two critical elements of lending and as our colleagues from The craft would have indicated We really don't see any reason why You shouldn't grab this opportunity. Okay, so to be very specific with regards to your question We will take all of the factors into consideration Once you do that energy audit Um, and it it shows where your savings will be Um, generated from Okay, that is very compelling for the financial institution that has to make a judgment call on whether your project is viable I mean, this is a situation where in It's almost a hundred percent success rate um, so You know, it's really about the timing And um, your question is very pertinent in that regard Um, we will take into consideration You know the period of time that you will need in order to generate a healthy enough cash flow to service Um, the loan so thanks for that question Hi, good morning to all. Um, I'm highly encouraged being here today I've participated in these things for about 30 years and tend to go away shaking my head But today I'm elated So the bigger piece of the puzzle as it relates to accessing financing seems to be solved. My question really is Um, when is there a timeline to elevating the existing permissible limits of five kilowatts domestic And 25 kilowatts commercial because to give us the incentive to invest in a big way these limits are too limiting I would invite the nook immediately to answer that question Oh Like I said in my presentation, there was a public consultation just about two weeks ago Where we came to stakeholders to ask um, your view of the optimal levels for um, PV generation both for domestic and commercial So we're at a stage where we are accepting comments On the presentations that were made and we will be presenting our report to the honorable minister Um, who would be the one determining that policy? um, so Within the new legislative framework, we ought to see some changes with regards to these capacity limits Good day. Uh, my name is gill Good day to everyone. Uh, my name is gilbert joseph. Um from solar energy services company limited I'd like to ask, um miss, um rain week The project that um, that was um In short to you Did you get the option of going off grid? um Was the grid side, um Was the only thing the option that you had because I can see If you look into bring down your your power consumption Um, I think the the off grid if the off grid was not um an option for you Um, I don't know if that was an option for you if you would have to look at that Um, yes, your savings is just below six thousand dollars for now Um, but I believe it could have been better much much higher if um, if I don't know if preparations were made for um new technologies coming on the market, um if um They if you didn't have enough space or you didn't have place to put your batteries Um, but I believe you could have had a much wider higher Higher um, my question is what was the the the grid side? um off grid recommended to you Off grid is a I mean, we had a lot of discussions. We spoke to people who have been doing it Longs people like ferens. I think are the one of the first um But I'll be honest with you remember our strategic goals. We looked at cutting our costs But also being a good corporate Citizen I think lucillac is very important to solution If everybody was to go off grid and there's no need for lucillac Then I really think that that is the wrong decision for the island um So it is really about what every single Company decides is important to them for us. It was to cut costs We don't know what that total is yet But I've already seen that we're heading in the right direction Just to speak briefly about off grid. Um At this point in terms of the cost of batteries and so forth It's not cost competitive to go off grid at this point. You're you're better off staying with lucillac At this moment in terms of having it where you you're just a great side system than to be a standalone Especially for large manufacturing system that have high high peaks right Good morning. Thank you. My question is for dr. Jean, please. Um, did I understand correctly? When you said that only fossil fuel Generation of electricity is regulated Does that therefore mean that a hundred percent off grid? Um system whether it's an individual or a business could actually sell or share electricity Or is that coming? I'm not sure I understand your question The exclusive the exclusivity is to lucillac to generate using fossil fuel else So it means that no other license would be granted to any other Operator Who is generating using fossil fuel? So that's the exclusive We regulate the milk regulates renewable energy um generation so What I said is if you're off grid Then you're not interconnected to the national grid and therefore The law does not Prescribe that we have to regulate you. Okay. Um, but what I'm kind of asking is that is it coming where? An off-grid renewable energy company or individual could share or distribute power with perhaps a neighbor or Not under the current legislative framework. Is that being looked into that is what is within the draft legislation I want to say something about the off-grid systems if we're talking about a craft facility um, where you are required where you are Expecting to get a reduction in your electricity expenses that would be um, that you could use to finance your loan The benefit of grid tide Is higher than if you're off grid because Especially if you do not operate a 24-hour facility You could be consuming the electricity that you are Generating from your renewable energy system during the day which would bring down your cost Whatever residual power that you get especially on a weekend if you do not if you do not Operate on a weekend that goes back to lucy like for which you get a credit So off-grid you're only going to be using your electricity that is generated and nothing goes back But if you grid tide Then during the time that you're generating electricity, but not utilizing it It goes back to the utility for which you're There would be a trade-off And if I may say under a net metering system Where you do not have a differential in your buying and selling rates Then you stand to benefit um a little better With that grid tide system I have another so we're gonna allow two more questions. Um, and those two questions. We like it to be non regulatory Um, and it in terms of what it's a finance question I'll have in questions about clarity in terms of what cref is about so those two more questions Okay, well, I have one other one about finance. Is it um one per customer? Suppose you have two small businesses. Can that work? Well, it's it's done per business. So it should be um allow for two different institutions executive decision we will allow a few more questions because Executive believes that this is an important part. But as kenrick said that we need to You know try to make them non regulatory because the purpose of the forum here today is to deal with the technical assistance to deal with the Financing and so forth. So we give priority to those questions. So We'll take your question and then we will take A few more questions, but there's a gentleman in the front who's been asking the question for the longest while so Okay, um I'm not sure if it's a question, but we have different organizations That's supposed to be working together, but they all have different rules and regulations So you apply to loose a leg you've gone for nook They take six months whatever time to approve you Then You get your stuff in and then you go to loose a leg They do whatever they do at their time So if during the time that they are you're waiting for them to approve install or whatever it is that they have to do Whatever certificates you have that expires You have to reapply for them at your cost Although the delay was not yours and i'm talking from practical experience So it will take two to three years from installation Of your panels to actually being tied to the grid and whatever it is to get electricity So one this is a very good initiative, but we need to work out those kinks Or else people will get frustrated All right. Um, so that is just my comment Without without being defensive The nuke's application process Hello, the nuke's application process Takes three days Because time The only time it will take a longer period Is if the documents that have been submitted Are inadequate That is the only time so I think we have to be clear I must say that I am concerned about the process After it leaves the nuke Because we have to be following up on your behalf with the utility And that's where the back and forth goes another place that you have A hurdle is when it comes to the inspection of your system By the electrical department now again, we must understand That the electrical department is itself a regulator That is doing the inspection to ensure safety Of your appliance and your facility And so it may require that you have to do rewiring you may have to change your rcds And several other things in order for your system to be safe So I think we have to understand the process and the reason For that process being there it is for you Now while I know Mr. Vitalis would like you to ask questions related to the craft Yes, you may jump on the financing But if the regulatory system or process Is not completed, then you will get the hurdle You will get the hiccup when you get to the financing part So let's put everything in proper context Um lady, I can assure you or any other person in the room If you have any difficulty after three days of sending in an application You could call me personally I can assure you of that call me personally Because it within recent times we've been processing applications within 24 hours We're just given the three days just to make sure That we can have everything handed to Lucillek within that time But it's usually 24 hours So if anyone has any problems feel free to contact me to look into the matter Hi good morning I just wanted to bring things back into perspective and I think they say experience speaks volumes The first of all, sorry, I'm Michael Andrew, the financial controller of Renwick and Company The um they were two poll questions asked earlier and they both Lead to answers that made reference to financing in In terms of the client and in terms of the bank or the financial institution We must realize that at the end of the day the persons involved or the person that are That are charged with the responsibility of making financial decisions within the company Should to a greater extent be able to speak and understand the language of EE and RE If you do not understand it, you will not be inclined to lend at all or invest in it Renwick and Company we We began those discussions way in 2018 and we We were not able to stick the financing and I will explain to you that one of our biggest issues after after having conversations with craft and CDF that it was The technical know how to to to get something viable to the banks so You may be In the position to get it But how you present it it needs to be something attractive to any Institution that you would like to apply the nook. It needs to be something that is fully Fully informed to the bank. It needs to be something that's very attractive as well So if you don't have the understanding you cannot speak the language when it comes to EE and RE it becomes very difficult for you it at in At inception it took us very long and since we met the We spoke with Wayne and craft. I think it was Alex. We it was a very small process for us Financing They put it in very simple terms What you save on electricity? You pay much less or you pay less To the loan so Basically looking at in our instance, you may have a repayment period of about five years on that loan for the solar However, at the end of the five years, you don't have the loan to pay and you don't have the electricity to pay as well So if you look at it in that instance as a short to medium-term investment Because it could seem like a very high investment at start But if you look at it in the medium to short term or the short to medium term It becomes a a heavy saving on the company with a renaissance renaissance company when we did our first Trance of of the project which was the rewiring of the building and the Disseparation of the meter and also the ac The transformation for the ac units into inverter units. We were already Looking at about 45 to 40 percent of our electricity bill in savings The obviously is only going to get better with the solar panels once we get Tied to the grid So just to say that You know, you all may have a lot of questions in terms of why should I make that investment? Look at it in that way that in the long run or even in the short run actually because it's not a long term debt from what i'm seeing It is something that you you you basically reducing or you improving on your cash flow because you're paying much less at the end of the day Only to realize A zero cash flow when it comes to year five Which means that you don't have electricity to pay or maybe minimum And you don't have a loan to pay as well So, um, like I say it's two things to ensure that the the persons making the financial decisions are Or speak and understand that language So they've been more inclined to accept it and the second thing is to make sure that whatever that goes out to The institutions are something that is viable and marketable. Something that looks attractive to them The banks in our experience We have had very good experiences in both banker signature and SLDB SLDB obviously at the time were the only ones that were were signed on to the memorandum But they were both at the high level of acceptance and willingness to lend So I would not bash them down not this time on the on the on the solar aspect. Thank you All right, last two questions This young lady here and then we have this gentleman across here Thank you very much. Um, my question is there two lending institution institutions What is the rate of interest? um, and the loan for um This project and um, the next question is lucy lake. How? Accommodating are they when it comes to? SMEs I must say this is a very Well attended session and very electric in terms of participation And I'm happy to be here to answer any question as it relates to the bank. Well, when the bank of st. Lucia Provided the financing we had and we still do have it's come into an end as I mentioned in my presentation We have the climate adaptation financing facility the calf And the rate of interest on the calf starts at 4.5 percent Yeah, so that's a very concessionary interest rate But like I said, this is coming to an end and we're trying to put in place An additional facility that would be at a concessionary rate as well to be able to continue providing financing To msmes to allow them to be able to benefit from the advantages of re and e Thank you. My question is along the same lines, but is there a cost to the guarantee itself? in addition to the bank's rate Sorry about that The our guarantee is present one percent of the reducing balance of the loan on an annual basis We charge that to the bank Resume right you have me better now. Yeah, we are charging one percent Of the load on the reducing balance of the loan on an annual basis That charge is to the bank How the bank passes is on whether they absorb it in in full Partially or pass it on in full to the to the to the consumer. That is a decision that the bank makes But for the facility, we're charging one percent Of the reducing balance of the facility and that is extremely small In the scheme of things To help with the free part of the operating costs Of graph as you imagine, there's a significant cost where that is concerned Okay I think that's it for the questions. Um, what I would say is that Those persons who would like to get additional information with respect to the technical assistant facility Can do so as you exit the door on the left the registration desk cdf personnel will be there who would Be able to speak with you more as well as make appointments For on-site visits to those who wish to require technical assistance Yeah, just two quick points before I go one is that Craft now is is is capitalized at 13 million u.s. Dollars um, it is Three of that is for technical assistance We are currently in advanced discussions with two development institutions Who will be providing an additional five million u.s. Dollars for technical assistance and three million dollars to support the credit risk instrument for Women owned and women managed businesses. We are actually negotiating the the the um Contribution agreements with those entities. So at the end of the day Very soon. We will ramp that up our financing up to About 20 million dollars so That is where we are standing at the moment and one more point that we wanted to make in terms of monitoring We are not going to simply provide technical assistance to you and provide credit risk We have to monitor it. We have to make sure that the Objectives of the facility are being met The key performance indicators that we have we have have said how we are progressing towards those And make the necessary adjustment and that is done through our monitoring and evaluation pillar Thank you And just like that ladies and gentlemen, we have come to almost the end of our forum for this morning I now call on mr. Arden Warner. He is the legal counsel for the carricum development fund to give the closing remarks Thank you very much for nature All group protocols being observed distinguished guests of the podium Ladies and gentlemen members of the media good day Thank you very much for making the time to attend today's event Which so to expose participants to the types of technical assistance offered by the credit risk abatement facility craft As it is now known to all of you Just a reminder that this facility seeks to incentivize domestic lending by local financial institutions to SMEs For renewable energy or energy efficiency projects As our CEO mr. Rodinal summa summa indicated earlier This technical assistance facility is provided free of charge to SMEs and other service providers Let me specifically thank the honorable minister of renewable energy The honorable mr. Stevenson king for his participation today And his presentation this morning and more importantly His support and that of the government of st. Lucia in providing the enabling environment For the pursuit of renewable energy sources amongst the business community, especially the SMEs The representative from the ministry of commerce Miss most rosemary paleos stated that the government of the day has put in place A suite of fiscal incentives to help small businesses in taking advantage of the benefits of deploying Renewable energy and energy efficiency in the operations Thanks also go out to Renwick and company for that sterling endorsement Of the craft and it how it allowed the company to revamp its operations There by creating savings which has led to increased efficiency And greater competitiveness I want to also thank the media for their support in covering today's proceedings And we look forward to ample coverage in the various media as we seek to spread the positive word of the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency Um utilization in st. Lucia I'd like to raise a special thanks to the stalwart cdf team that are responsible for Bringing today's forum to st. Lucia And to you all In this regard, I'd like to Ask that cdf team to I to just stand mr. Wayne vitalis Dr. Laverne McFarlane Eugene Williams Kenrick Burke Angela Paris you just raise your hands if you all are here I'm just to tell you all. Thank you very much for the excellent job you all have done in bringing this It would be particularly remiss of me today Not to also thank Ms. Lucia gentle for the excellent excellent job. She's done as our mistress of ceremony Wayne I would encourage you to try and get her on the road for the entire road show Okay Finally a hearty thanks to all the participants in today's forum For your presence and just to say that appointments for field visits Discussions on project ideas or concepts will be done at the cdf table located at the back right of the hall I believe my colleague mr. Williams already indicated So I'm just repeating that to ensure that everybody has access to the relevant information Well, I urge you to engage the craft personnel here who will be looking at your proposals with a view to moving it to the next step Whether through the provision of technical assistance, which as I said before is free of charge In closing, I wish a safe journey back To all of your respective establishments once again ladies and gentlemen, we thank you very much for today's participation Thank you And before we officially wrap things up, I would like to now call back on the stage mr. Sumer who will be Giving a very kind gesture to the minister Thank you very much and let me just take your opportunity to also extend thanks to all of you for attending and participating so actively I wish we had a little more time for for the questions and answers, but We have to find a way to Allow you the opportunity to get those questions to us because I think answering them It's going to be important to ensuring that we have complete understanding and buy-in and we can build on the momentum that we have Started today. So thank you very much. Let me just make a representation to to minister king to so that we an officially Mark our partnership with st. Lucia in advancing the energy transition And also to give him some further encouragement to improve the enabling environment for renewable energy and energy efficiency in st. Lucia I'd like to thank mr. Sumer immensely And to make a disclaimer I think two of the members of the panel here this morning indicated That they are in the constituency of castries north blue Uh, but let me also state that i'm not responsible for all of them being from castries north Officially, I would like to thank Each and every one of you for coming out today and participating in this very important forum I believe karkam development fund has a very good head on their shoulder as it relates to the involvement and the communication process with the stakeholders business owners And any other relevant party. I know this is just the beginning and We will be taking this further into other Entities and territories within the oasis and I would also like to thank the Panelists here this morning. Thank you all for taking the time out and giving us a lot more insight I'm very sure Our very engaged crowd will be going back home with a bit more Knowledge and the thought process in getting their entities upon running Lastly before I go. I want to also express the very Urgent need for forums such as this I personally would like to commend the cdf in taking the time out to acknowledge the small and medium price Small and medium enterprises within st. Lucia as well as our women Who want to do a lot better and who want to do it in a clean and sustainable way? With that once again, thank you so much for coming out My name is miss ronisha gentle and I have been mistress of ceremony for this morning And we will officially be closing a gentle reminder one last time when you go to the back on your departure We have refreshments that you can party king. Thank you for joining us here today All right Again once one more time just to encourage you to do two things We are going to set up two