Trinidad and Tobago

In 2015, global investment in renewables grew about 5 percent relative to the previous year and reached an all-time high of US$ 286 billion (bn). And there are more interesting trends: Investment in renewables’ based electricity generation capacity in 2015 has been more than double the investment in the major fossil fuels (renewables: US$ 266 bn versus US$ 130 bn for coal and gas stations). This also leads to added capacity in terms of Gigawatts in 2015 in renewables (134 GW) outstripping all other technologies combined (conventional coal, gas, and nuclear).

Generating electric power based on geothermal energy is attractive (i) because of the low CO2 emissions and (ii) because electricity can be produced constantly, independent of the availability of wind or sunlight. These characteristics make geothermal energy an important option for safe, cost-effective and climate friendly power production. The main caveats are that geothermal energy is not available everywhere and that it is uncertain whether the resource will actually be found at a given site.

Renewable power has significant potential to reduce the cost of electricity in rural and island settings across the developing world. In areas distant from main power grids, regional isolated grids – often referred to as mini-grids – are often the main source of electricity to industry and households. Power generation usually relies on diesel fuel, often imported over long distances. Yet genera­ting costs can be reduced by hybridising these mini-grids with solar photo­vol­taic (PV) or other renewable power sources.

Across the globe, climate policy is increasingly using investment support instruments, such as grants, concessional loans, and guarantees – whereas carbon prices are losing importance. This development substantially increases the risk of inefficient public spending. In this paper, we examine the ability of finance instruments to effectively and efficiently address market failures related to clean energy investments.

Lack of access to electricity is seen as a major constraint to economic growth and increased welfare in developing countries. In this report, the authors conducted a review of the evidence that investments in electricity-generating capacity have benefits for poor people, and what factors influence that relationship. The review analyzes a large and diverse range of literature dealing with the poverty impacts of increased generation capacity.

This report studies the development of criteria for assessing the compatibility of financial investments with the international goal to limit global temperature increase to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The findings are intended as a starting point and a key input for a longer term process to develop consensus-based 2°C investing criteria. The focus here is placed on investments in projects and physical assets, in particular of development and climate finance organisations.