The CARICOM states are generally net importers of fossil fuels with a significant percentage of GDP spent on import bills. The Council for Trade and Economic Development of CARICOM, COTED, approved regional level targets for Renewable Energy (RE) contribution to total electricity generation in CARICOM of twenty per cent (20%), twenty-eight per cent (28%) and forty-seven per cent (47%) for years 2017, 2022 and 2027 respectively. Though some countries are in the process of updating their Electricity Sector Legislation to permit independent power producers to operate in the generation market, no country has the expertise to fully analyze and execute projects to integrate utility scale variable renewable energy (VRE) projects into the power grid in order to meet the regional targets.
