Through this application, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is requesting financial resources from the GCF Project Preparation Facility (PPF) to develop a full funding proposal for Phase I of the Scaling up the deployment of Integrated Utilities Services (IUS) to support energy sector transformation in the Caribbean (hereafter referred to as “the programme”). The programme aims to reduce/avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enhance climate resilience in the participating Borrowing Member Countries (Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Jamaica) by increasing uptake of distributed renewable energy (RE) technologies, energy efficiency (EE) measures and other distributed energy resources (DERs) among the electric utilities’ customers. To do so, the programme will support the electric utilities in these countries to successfully establish the Integrated Utilities Services (IUS) model and administer it at scale, thereby expanding their business operations to facilitate the adoption of distributed RE, EE and other DERs among a wide range of customers – and do so in a manner that minimizes risks and other barriers for end-users. The programme will comprise a ‘project’ in each participating BMC, each of which will include a series of ‘sub-projects’ through which distributed RE, EE and other DERs will be procured, installed, operated and maintained at the premises of the utilities’ customers (mostly residential and commercial customers, as well as some industrial customers and public sector entities).

In delivering the above, the Phase I of this programme will:

• directly enable widespread investment in distributed RE, EE and other DERs among a broad segment of customers, while also promoting more equitable access to such technologies, thereby significantly reducing energy-related GHG emissions and enhancing climate resilience; and
• equip the partner electric utilities to continue applying the IUS model after programme closure, empowering them to become leaders in the broader process of transforming the electricity systems and energy sectors in their respective countries.