Promoting Renewable Energy in Central America

We are pleased to announce a $5 million investment in the Honduras Renewable Energy Financing Facility (H-REFF). The fund, a Delaware Limited Partnership managed by a group of professionals based in Honduras and Costa Rica, will focus on strengthening renewable energy adoption and capabilities in Central America. H-REFF will provide financing to small-scale renewable energy projects utilizing hydroelectric, solar, wind, biomass, biogas, and energy efficient technologies across Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama.

As the economies of Central America have grown, their use of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity has become unsustainably high. Development has come with a cost of rising emissions, worsening air and water pollution and negatively impacting health. While many in the region are exploring the expansion of existing sustainability efforts, a lack of capital and expertise present barriers.

Through our investment in H-REFF we aim to support the closing of this financial and skills gap of renewable energy project developers in the region. H-REFF aims to finance a dozen small-scale renewable energy projects, and through this work create thousands of new green jobs and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the region. Already their first investment has been made in Kingo Energy to provide solar energy services to off-grid communities Guatemala.

This investment is a part of our portfolio growth in the renewable energy sector. Over the past few years we have financed renewable energy projects and companies across the U.S. and sub-saharan Africa, and this is our first renewable energy investment in Central America. We have been tracking the economic growth in this region and are excited to be supporting new market opportunities such as these. We look forward to seeing the impact of this work across the region.