CREF 2013

Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum

CREF 2013 kicked off with warm welcoming words from CREF's 

Chairman Jerry Butler followed by the well spoken, recently re-

elected Prime Minister of Aruba, Mike Eman. With hundreds of 

delegates in attendance, the show was poised to be a success.

The show was separated into two sections: scheduled presentations, 

each with a panel of relevant, industrious experts; and an exhibition

hall featuring vendors ranging from SolarWorld and Suniva, solar 

panel manufacturers; to Hydrostor and Saft, storage technologies.

Thursday's discussions tackled tough issues such as increased regional
Natural Gas exploration's effect on renewable adoption, utility aversion,
and financing projects through the region. Geraint Breeze said it best
stating, "Commercial lenders are the most risk averse people in the room."
PPAs must not only be bankable, but also pass the bank's scrutiny when
it comes to "Take or Pay" clauses or other undesirable nuances.

Friday got down to business right away running parallel presentations all

day. One room focused on the technologies: Wind, Solar, Storage, Ocean, 

Biomass, WTE, and Geothermal; while the other focused on individual

markets, including government representatives from Puerto Rico, Jamaica,

The Bahamas, etc. Even the oil and gas rich Trinidad and Tobago is 

looking to commission 100MW of wind in the coming years and has already

commenced a feasibility study on a WTE plant replacing the Malpais landfill.

All in all the range of attendees, speakers, and exhibitors made CREF a rich

event filled with myriad of economic opportunity and valuable information.

Connectsun will be back next year as long as the hosting island can compete

with Wednesday night's "reception" that quickly escalated from a majestic,

Circ du Solei-esque demonstration to a fiesta of epic proportions...

UP NEXT: Trinidad and Tobago