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November 2, 2009 – This past October the Alliance played a key role in two workshops focusing on efforts to save energy and water in Central American and the Caribbean, where the Alliance is partnering with Econoler International on two projects funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), “Energy Efficiency for Caribbean Water and Sanitation Companies,” and “Energy Efficiency in Water Utilities in Central America”. Based on Watergy practices and energy management trainings, these two projects aim to improve supply-side energy efficiency in seven Caribbean countries and reduce energy costs within the water and sanitation sector in three Central American countries.
Held at the Annual Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) Conference in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Energy Efficiency for Caribbean Water and Sanitation Companies Regional Workshop was organized by the Alliance for IDB. Along with United Nations HABITAT and the Caribbean Development Bank, IDB invited water companies (totaling about 60 participants from the Caribbean) to come together for a two-day workshop which focused on energy management concepts, technical aspects of saving energy in water systems (including a methodology for developing an energy savings project) and financing.
During the workshop, Caribbean countries involved in this particular IDB project discussed their progress in light of the Alliance and Econoler’s energy trainings and technical assistance, which includes conducting energy audits and energy management trainings, developing an energy efficiency improvement and equipment maintenance plan and helping utilities identify financing mechanisms for proposed projects.
Also in October, the Alliance presented at a similar two-day IDB workshop for the Central America project entitled Taller Planeando El Uso Racional de Energía en una Compañia de Agua y Saneamiento or Planning Workshop on the Wise Use of Energy in a Water and Sanitation Company, in San Jose, Costa Rica. This was another opportunity for the Alliance team to share their expertise on energy management, technical aspects of testing inefficiencies in water systems, maintenance programs, methodology for choosing energy savings actions and indicators for monitoring efficiencies after implementation.
The Alliance is working directly in four of the Caribbean countries – the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guyana, and Suriname – to provide water and sanitation companies with an energy action plan and a methodology for self-assessing their current infrastructure and identifying areas to upgrade. In Central America, the Alliance is working in Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras.
Contact Arlene Fetizanan at afetizanan@ase.org for more information on the Caribbean project, and Alexander Filippov at afilippov@ase.org for more information on the Central America project.
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