In 2021, the Latin America & the Caribbean region saw the highest proportion of PFAN supported projects reaching financial closure worldwide, with total investment more than doubling since 2020.
Stepping up the number of webinars and outreach efforts by the LAC regional network has resulted in an increase both in the number of eligible projects originated and in the dollar value of financial closures. Fourteen eligible projects were inducted into the pipeline, a 55% increase from 2020.
Financial closures have taken place in Guatemala, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Belize, Panama and Haiti from projects operating mainly in the hydro and waste to energy sectors. The largest amount (15mil USD in the form of equity) was raised by GSR Energy Holdings Ltd., a company from Belize focused on the production of biofuels.
The region also stands out for its high level of gender inclusiveness. A PFAN study conducted in November 2021 concluded that, on average, 61% of LAC project companies’ management teams are women, with 40% of the companies’ ownership held by women – the highest share among all the regions. Through the regional team’s efforts, the number of investors participating in PFAN LAC activities has nearly tripled.
LAC in 2021
$25,778,463
Total investment leveraged (USD)
Projects that reached financial closure
8
Clean energy capacity added (MW)
10.8
Total Advisors
21
Female Advisors
3
Locally-based Advisors (%)
78
Total number of projects supported
15
Total number of projects supported by country
Technology area of new projects in the pipeline
Financial closure success story
Location
Belize
Investment Amount
$19 million USD
Technology
Biorefinery
''PFAN has helped us focus our approach and attract foreign direct investment. I am comfortable telling you the facts; PFAN has helped us hone our presentation. We have a very small amount of time to catch the investors’ attention. PFAN has helped us improve how we do that''.
Meet our Network in Latin America & the Caribbean
PFAN Advisor - Hugo Romeo Arriaza Morales
Hugo Romeo Arriaza Morales is a PFAN Advisor based in Guatemala and an Agricultural Engineer with a Master’s degree in Project Evaluation and Financial Administration. He has been working in Central America, The Caribbean and Africa for nearly 35 years, gathering extensive experience working in the rural energy sector and project investments linked to electricity in rural areas.
For 16 years he was the CEO for the trust fund ”Electricity for Progress”, which was set up to grant loans to stimulate rural electrification initiatives based on renewable energy and electricity generation initiatives.
As a PFAN Advisor, he appreciates that his work combines disciplines to assess project opportunities and at the same time, pay attention to the environment, people, legal framework and linked institutions as part of the project risk and the country risk assessments.
Regional Coordinator - Federico Fische
Federico Fische is an economist with more than 20 years of experience in international development cooperation and private sector development. He specialises in renewable energy solutions, clean tech innovations and energy efficiency, private sector projects and public sector programme funding in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.
During the last three years, he has led the implementation of USAID’s US$ 10 million Clean Energy Finance Facility for the Caribbean and Central America. This grant programme has funded over 20 projects and leveraged over $800 million in potential investments. Later, Federico became the Key Expert for Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific region for the EU Technical Assistance Facility for Sustainable Energy for Neighbourhood (East and South), Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific.
In this role, he supports policy analysis, development and implementation for the clean energy sector, with the aim to accelerate and implement countries’ sector reform policies related to access to clean energy, and to foster and facilitate project funding.
