IDB Boosts Latin Renewables Drive (reNews)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency are extending a scheme to back renewable energy schemes in Central America and the Caribbean.
The duo has updated the Co-financing for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (Core) framework agreement signed in 2012 from $300m to $1bn and made new territories eligible.
In addition to the IDB member countries already qualifying for JICA financing (Belize, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica and Nicaragua), Core will take in Costa Rica, Panama and Suriname as well as the Caribbean Development Bank and the eastern Caribbean nations of Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia (pictured), St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The first co-financing loans under Core have already been approved by IDB and JICA to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in Nicaragua. Other projects are being developed elsewhere, such as a geothermal scheme in Costa Rica.
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