Project Detail

Establishing Sustainable Energy Cells in the Community of Choiseul, Saint Lucia

This project will focus on establishing the first sustainable community energy cell in Saint Lucia to help poor households to reduce their carbon footprint while contributing to the development of their community through the establishment and contribution to a community fund. The project objectives are to: (i) raise awareness on the use of solar as an alternative energy source in the community of Choiseul by Dec 2014; (ii) install a minimum of ten (10) 2.5 kW photovoltaic systems in the community of Choiseul by June 2015; (iii) train a minimum of 20 persons, in the community of Choiseul, in photovoltaic systems design, installation and maintenance by the end of the project; (iv) develop the capacity and capability of Atlas in project development and management, community mobilization, and effective communication by the end of the project; and (v) create a community development fund for financing sustainable development projects by the end of the project.

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

ATLAS

Country:

Saint Lucia

Area Of Work:

Climate Change Mitigation

Operational Phase:

Phase 5

Grant Amount:

US$ 50,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 26,471.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 97,222.00

Project Number:

STL/SGP/OP5/Y3/STAR/CC/14/03

Start Date:

5/2014

End Date:

7/2017

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

A Community Development or Trust Fund will be established with at least 50% of the savings from the cost of energy which occurs. The project will help establish a sustainable funding source for future projects.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

A minimum of 20 young persons will be trained as solar maintenance engineers and through their work a supplementary source of income will be created. As the number of community solar cells expands we expect permanent employment to be created for all the trained engineers.

Notable Community Participation

A stakeholder analysis will be completed and a targeted programme will be used to motivate involvement at all or various periods in the project cycle dependent on need. Various communities will be invited to participate in community meetings and workshops.

Planning non gef grant

No decision made to date.

Policy Influence

No policy changes were documented.

Linkages gef projects

None at the moment.

Planning gef grant

Not at the moment.

Capacity - Building Component

The capacity of the grantee will increase both quantitatively and qualitatively to enable members to manage the project. At least 20 persons will be trained as community solar maintenance engineers.

Replication of project activities

The project is well documented and the level of training provided to the members of the group will assist them in the management of other projects. The group emerged from being a small CBO to a major CBO in the administrative district of Choiseul by the end of the project.

Gender Focus

The project will ensure that men and women get an equal chance to be trained and participate in the project management and sharing of benefits.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

The project will inform and educate a community on how to reduce their carbon footprint while decreasing their cost of living. There will an extensive and well documented public information and participation programme on alternative energy.

Project sustainability

This project is expected to be sustainable because of the high quality of the training provided for the group; the number of long term partnerships established; genuine community participation and project transparency; and the agreement with the ten major beneficiaries to donate up to 50% of their electricity savings to the newly established community foundation.

Project Results

This project achieved many results over the period of implementation, despite the many challenges it faced. The young people were engaged, participated throughout the project cycle and the level of project transparency ensured that the community was supportive.

The major environmental outputs of the project were as follows:

(i) The carbon footprint of ten households was reduced by 90% to 120% by the end of the
project. For two of the interconnected houses, a total of 174.40 Lbs of CO2 was saved from
entering the environment after two months of operations;

(ii) The awareness and understanding of the impacts of CC and CC risks increased significantly
after several households were surveyed and people interviewed in each community within the
Administrative Quarter.

(iii) All the schools in the administrative area were visited, which helped to expose students and
teachers to the impacts of CC and associated risks.

(iv) The impact of CC is now better understood by students who undertook research in order to
participate in a logo competition for the project.

The economic outputs were as follows:

(i) Significant cost savings resulted. Electricity charges declined for six beneficiaries between 19%
and 112% which meant that a few beneficiaries (2) were paying zero dollars to the electricity
company within two months of interconnection to the main grid.

(ii) The community foundation was established and by the end of the funded project, was in the
process of developing the structure and systems for receiving 50% of savings from project
beneficiaries, for investment in community projects.

(iii) Seven (7) persons were employed (3 women and 4 men) in areas such as transportation,
catering and legal drafting, who together earned a total of US$1044 (US$333 ? women; US$711
? men).

The group?s capacity was significantly increased and improved with the following output:

(i) Sixteen (16) persons (5 ? women; 11 ?men) were trained in PVC installation; electrical
installation; business management; effective communications; and research.

The grantee experienced several challenges during project implementation caused in part by the evolving regulatory system associated with alternative energy in Saint Lucia, which introduced new requirements as the project evolved; the very long periods for approval of applications from the NURC and the Electricity Company, which caused some project participants to complain, lose hope and place pressure on group members; and issues concerning the insurance of systems. All of these challenges were addressed by the end of the project.

We anticipate that within two years of project conclusion, the project monitoring system will reveal statistics from the beneficiaries, which confirm the positive impact of the project on the environment and the community.

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