Capacity Development

 The centre aims at strengthening the capacities of local key institutions and stakeholder groups through the up-scaling and replication of certified training and applied research programs and mechanisms. Particularly, the centre implements the following activities:

• Undertake a regional capacity needs assessment (particularly reflecting the needs of local business and industry groups)
• Develop a regional multi-year capacity development framework for key stakeholders in the RE&EE sector (particularly reflecting the needs of local business and industry groups)
• Facilitate the adoption and implementation of the regional capacity development framework and mobilize support from various partners
• Develop training competency standards, certification and accreditation schemes and models on RE&EE in coordination with local business and industry groups
• Act as coordinative hub for the accreditation and certification of national training centres and trainers
• Execution of regional train-the-trainer workshops
• Train key policy makers in sustainable energy policy planning and incentive mechanisms, including cross-cutting issues (e.g. waste-to-energy, mainstreaming of environmental assessments and standards in project approval procedures, energy-water-food nexus, gender mainstreaming, decommissioning and recycling procedures for RE&EE technologies)
• Train utilities and regulators regarding RE integration/grid stability and energy efficiency (e.g. demand side management)
• Provide targeted RE&EE business development training for clean-tech SMEs and entrepreneurs (e.g. energy auditors, equipment installers, RE service providers)
• Increase the capacity of stakeholders to mainstream gender, environmental sustainability and climate resilience into RE&EE policies and projects
• Train experts on the financial structuring, design and planning of RE&EE projects (e.g. climate finance, RETScreen, HOMER
• Conduct a baseline study on the research priority needs of the Caribbean RE&EE industry andbusiness sectors
• Create a regional incentive model for the establishment of regional research programmes with high relevance for the local industry
• Promote south-south and north-south technology development partnerships