NRG Energy, Inc. and Digicel (News - Alert) recently unveiled a new partnership to acquire, construct and operate renewable energy projects under development in the Caribbean region.
Both companies say they can bring both financial and environmental benefits to the Caribbean's government, utilities and people.
David Crane, the chief executive officer at NRG, states, “NRG’s work in Haiti has demonstrated the transformative impact that renewable energy can have on communities that otherwise lack access to affordable, reliable electricity. We stand ready with Digicel to support the widespread adoption of renewables across the Caribbean, thereby helping to drive down electricity costs for the region and reducing the deleterious impacts of fossil fuel generation on the Caribbean ecosystem.”
Digicel's CEO Colm Delves adds, “In the Caribbean today, distributed and utility-scale renewable energy projects can deliver a much lower cost of energy than fossil fuels, without subsidies. Our intent is to identify projects from across the region – and to support these in completing development, financing, and construction. This will translate into substantive and lasting energy savings for the governments and people of the Caribbean.”
“NRG’s vision is for solar-led renewable medium- to large-scale off-grid systems across the region. We understand a mix of technologies, from batteries to wind energy systems, will be necessary to offer the greatest financial and environmental benefits to Caribbean stakeholder, and we are open to supporting all systems with demonstrated performance history,” Crane added.
Through an RFP process, NRG and Digicel are soliciting developers, governments, installers and others to provide information on renewable energy projects under development for possible investment. A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation made, often through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to allow the risks and benefits to be identified clearly up front.
The two companies are hopeful that this will not be their only collaboration in the Caribbean. They plan on teaming up on several other projects. Their goal is to acquire, construct and own the projects for their lifetimes.
Image via MedEdits
Edited by Rachel Ramsey