IV OAS Private Sector Forum
Panama City, Panama - May 31st - June 3rd, 2007
Energy for Development in the Americas: The Role of Public - Private Partnerships

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE IV OAS PRIVATE SECTOR FORUM
“Energy for Development in the Americas: The Role of Public - Private Partnerships”

May 31st - June 1nd 2007
Panama City, Panama
 

On May 31st and June 1st 2007, the organization Private Sector of the Americas, with the support of the Government of Panama and the Organization of American States, convened the IV OAS Private Sector Forum, entitled “Energy for Development in the Americas: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships.” Over 300 senior business leaders from the Hemisphere gathered at the Forum to provide recommendations in the following three areas:

(1) Energy Cooperation and Integration;

(2) The Future of Sustainable Electricity; and

(3) Biofuels as an Alternative for the Transportation Sector.

The recommendations discussed in each of the Forum’s working groups are summarized below.
 

Recommendations from Working Group 1:
Energy Cooperation and Integration

Chair of the Group: Nigel Hosein, Executive Director, CARILEC
 

1. Need for regional energy cooperation
   Governments are encouraged to cooperate in energy development and use on a regional level, both for non-renewable and renewable energy resources.
    
2. Interconnection of Transmission Systems
   Governments should encourage the interconnection of transmission systems on a regional basis, where feasible, in order to benefit from lower cost and more efficient production systems, security of supply, and to increase the pool of energy resources.
    
3. Regulatory Cooperation
   Governments are encouraged to promote regional regulatory cooperation to facilitate the interconnection of transmission systems. Regulatory cooperation and harmonization requires political will. The private sector of the Americas exhorts governmental authorities to work more closely together in order to achieve more effective regional regulatory cooperation.
    
4. Energy Policy
   The private sector of the Americas encourages governments to share best practices and experiences in the development of energy policies at the national and regional levels.
   Interconnection of transmission systems and regulatory cooperation can only be effective if countries put in place appropriate energy policies.
    
5. Incentives for Private Sector Research and Development
   Governments are encouraged to provide incentives to the private sector to promote more research and development in new technologies.
    
6. Corporate Social Responsibility
   Firms in the energy sector are encouraged to conduct their business in a socially responsible manner. Private sector of the Americas proposes the exchange of company-level experiences on the use of socially responsible and environmentally friendly practices in the energy sector.
    
7. Environmentally Sustainable Energy Development
   Regional energy cooperation and integration should be carried out in full respect of the environment and in an environmentally sustainable manner.
    
8. Transparency
   Transparency and integrity in the negotiation of interconnectivity and energy sharing agreements are essential. Governments and private sector enterprises are encouraged to publish and make available technical and financial information on energy agreements and to avoid corruption in carrying out these agreements.
    
9. Stable Legal Framework
   The private sector of the Americas believes that binding and legally enforceable agreements are the key to stable and successful regional cooperation in energy sharing and development. Therefore, governments are encouraged to ensure that stable legal frameworks are in place, which guarantee that agreements are respected and enforced.

Recommendations from Working Group 2:
The Future of Sustainable Electricity

Chair: Eduardo Vallarino, Vice President, Central American and Caribbean Federation of Renewable Energy
 

• Request the governments to establish clear rules and procedures, and appropriate environmental policies that benefit communities as well as developers, and which permit the rapid development of hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and oceanic resources.
   
• Establish as a goal, the maximum quantity of renewable energy production possible and define where the government wants the country to be in terms of the minimum use of renewable energies during a defined period of time, with the objective of reducing imports of fossil fuels.
   
• Revise regulatory measures to achieve equilibrium between the protection of the environment and a true promotion of electricity generation.
   
• Promote proactive government policies that help developers to achieve national priorities going beyond local and individual interests and foster alliances between businesses and society, sharing the benefits with different communities.
   
• Reduce bureaucracy and establish clear procedures conducive to the opening of the market offerings, eliminating restrictive and inadequate practices for the establishment of new generation.
   
• Develop a master plan at the national and regional level with objectives, indicators, measures, and procedures regarding energy goals.

Support research and development, technical assistance, and the evaluation of energy resources

• Support investigation, development and the promotion of innovative renewable energy solutions (including hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and oceanic solutions).
   
• Explore technical solutions to maximize use of waste, using advanced technologies in the conversion of biomass to electricity.

Exchange and dissemination of information, and training

• Create a Sustainable Energy Information Center as a national and regional focal point with the objectives of:
   
  • Producing and making public an inventory of natural resources in each country including the location of promising natural resources (hydro, wind, geothermal, solar, oceanic, biomass, etc);
     
  • Providing information on advanced Technologies, including national and regional best practices for the development of projects, as well as the information necessary for potential investors;
     
  • Providing information on policy and regulatory frameworks in each country of the hemisphere;
     
  • Educating and training communities on environmental issues, Technologies, and Project development.
     
• Request the OAS to:
   
  • Serve as the bridge in order for the countries of the interamerican system to exchange experiences among governments as well as the private sector;
     
  • Promote mechanisms for the institutionalization and improvement of the public-private dialogue on the theme of energy.
     
• Create and/or improve financing mechanisms for the development of sustainable energy projects
   
  • Create a system for sources of energy finance to be known to be made accessible.
     
  • Establish investment funds that can co-finance projects of the private sector.

Recommendations from Working Group 3:
Biofuels as an Alternative for the Transportation Sector

Chair of the Group: Bruce McCallum, President, Canadian Bioenergy Association
 

• We recommend the development of clear and coherent policy frameworks in OAS Member States in order to attract and sustain private sector investment in bioenergy industries, taking into account that food production and bioenergy production should complement one another. In addition, we also urge OAS Member States to share best practices in the development of regulatory and legal frameworks for bioenergy.
   
• We recommend that the OAS and other institutions from the Inter-American System such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) support and promote horizontal cooperation on suitable bioenergy, including forest and agro-energy biofuels, between and among countries of the Western Hemisphere.
   
• We strongly encourage OAS Member States to support the development of public-private partnerships in the development of bioenergy industries.