From October 16-20, CLDP conducted a microgrid energy assessment in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The assessment kicked off a project that was devised at the request of Commercial Service in Honduras and seeks to accelerate rural economic growth in Honduras and Guatemala. For this project, CLDP will provide technical assistance to the governments of both countries in developing legal and regulatory frameworks to incentivize the use of micro-grids to bridge the gap in the current electricity supply. Electricity access and reliability of electricity supply are key components of economic growth both in rural communities and for industries.

While in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, CLDP met with key stakeholders from both the public and private sector, including the Electricity Regulatory Commission (CREE), Honduras’s national electricity regulator; the Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE), Honduras's government-owned and operated electrical power company; and the Electric Energy Producers Association (AHPEE) and Renewable Energy Association (AHER). CLDP also met with representatives of local banks to discuss potential financing of microgrids, as well as chambers of commerce and other business associations, including Vital Voices, the local chapter of a global leadership network for women entrepreneurs.

In these meetings, CLDP both gauged interest from the private sector in microgrids as well as analyzed the legal and regulatory barriers to catalyzing private financing into this sector. CLDP’s technical assistance program will help stakeholders develop model contracts, tender procedures, financial models, and other commercial tools needed to attract private investment into the market. U.S. companies in particular are interested in accessing the Central American market provided the regulatory environment becomes more transparent. CLDP's first assessment will look at legal and regulatory barriers to catalyzing private financing into this sector.

Funding from this project comes from the Department of State as part of the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America, a bipartisan, multi-year U.S. government plan promoting institutional reforms and addressing developmental challenges in the region. This project is one of three that CLDP will begin implementing in the region in support of the Strategy’s aim to protect American citizens by addressing the security, governance, and economic drivers of illegal immigration and illicit trafficking, while increasing opportunities for U.S. and other businesses.