FENERCA

FENERCA was a program sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This program sought to increase the use of renewable energies in Brazil, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. In Central America, the program was executed by E+Co in collaboration with BUN-CA.

 

The FENERCA program began its activities in April of 2000 and ended in March of 2005. This program oversaw information activities and trainings addressed to different actors of the renewable energy sector; they also assisted in the structuration of renewable energy projects and businesses. Furthermore, they participated in the direct investment of the preliminary stages of the development of the selected projects.

 

To achieve its purpose, FENERCA included an institutional strengthening component for non-governmental organizations (NGO) and financial institutions that aimed to promote their participation in the renewable energy field. The program also had a component whereby they introduced new framework alternatives and transformation processes for the energy sector in every country, focused on small-scale renewable energy projects.

 

In the politics component, FENERCA promoted a more favorable framework for investments in electric generation using renewable energy sources to stimulate the transformation process in the electric industry in all participating countries for small-scale renewable energy projects. The conclusion was that the framework is necessary to create an atmosphere that is conducive to local and international investments in the renewable energy industry.

 


Objective

The objective of FENERCA was “to promote the creation and development of businesses with the capacity of building economically viable energetic projects that use renewable energies in the region”.

 


 

Activities

E+Co and BUN-CA contributed their experience within the field of renewable energy project promotion to achieve objectives through activities such as:

Supporting and training entrepreneurs in the design and structuring of business plans.

Strengthening the capacity of traditional financing institutions and non-governmental entities to develop renewable energy projects.

Contributing to the identification of financial sources for renewable energy projects.

Promoting the participation of financial institutions in the funding of renewable energy projects.

Identifying specific barriers, whether they come from political, financial or technical areas, that are obstructing the execution of renewable energy projects, and proposing alternatives that make the development of these projects easier.