The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the first grant through the Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America (CEFF-CCA), to help develop a 37 megawatt (MW) solar farm in Jamaica’s Westmoreland Parish. CEFF-CCA will provide support to Rekamniar Capital Limited, the project developer, to partner with independent power producer (IPP) Neoen on forming the Eight Rivers Energy Company, which will build the solar facility.  The purpose of the grant is to support selected legal, consulting and engineering costs in late stage project development.  The project will connect to the national grid under a Purchase Power Agreement with Jamaica’s Office of Utility Regulation.  Once completed, the Eight Rivers facility will generate some of the lowest cost electricity on the island.

President Obama launched CEFF-CCA on April 9, 2015.  The program seeks to encourage private sector investment in clean energy projects in the two regions.  CEFF-CCA leverages the expertise and resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State (State Department), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

The CEFF-CCA funding opportunity will remain open until March 31, 2017, or until funds have been completely allocated, whichever occurs first.  The overall CEFF-CCA grant pool ceiling for USAID is US$10 million.  Within this ceiling, there is no limit to the number of applications or awards.  Responses will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

For additional information on CEFF-CCA please visit www.ceff-cca.org.