Above: Port-au-Prince (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Inter-American Development bank has approved a grant for a $3 million cooperation project with the government of Haiti to test green energy projects.

The projects will test models based on solar, sustainable biomass and hybrid approaches in a country that has the lowest level of electrification in the Western Hemisphere.

“These studies will shed light on significant knowledge gaps,” said IDB energy senior specialist Christiaan Gischler, who is the team leader on the project. “Our goal is to give the Haitian government a clear picture of what it will need to carry out a successful rural electrification plan using renewable energy sources.”

Haiti will also establish an office for rural electrification through the project, along with developing regulations to promote green energy in rural areas in the country.

The two sides will additionally look at the possibility of introducing natural gas in Haiti.

Of the $3 million, $2 million is coming from the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, along with $500,000 each from the Climate Change Initiative and the IDB-administered Korea Fund For Technology and Innovation.