Power in numbers: How the Caribbean can resolve its clean energy paradox

The case for renewable energy and battery energy storage in the Caribbean is compelling yet paradoxical.

The region is one of the most energy-insecure in the world. It relies heavily on imported diesel, leaving economies acutely exposed to climate and geopolitical shocks. While capitalizing on abundant local renewable resources seems like an obvious fix, island nations have long struggled to accelerate deployment.

Up until now, clean energy projects have lacked the scale to attract major institutional investors. Capital remains expensive, risks are difficult to quantify and systemic coordination failure among countries has resulted in suboptimal outcomes for everyone.

The power of aggregation

Aggregating tenders allows countries to move beyond small, fragmented projects to build attractive investment opportunities for international financiers.

The Caribbean Aggregation Procurement Program (CAPP) does exactly this by pooling energy demand across islands. Supported by Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and Renewables for all (RELP), a nonprofit, CAPP clusters countries based on shared features to standardize procurement, regulation and technical design.

This framework converts isolated projects into a single, coordinated international tender. The result is a predictable, multiyear 9-gigawatt pipeline of capacity that unlocks a $9 billion investment opportunity. This scale has the potential to close the funding gap for 29 Caribbean Small Island Developing States, helping them meet their 2030 clean energy targets.

Successful national tenders have already paved the way for this regional shift. Notable examples include a 60MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Barbados and 100MW of renewable energy procurement in Jamaica.

By scaling these blueprints, the Caribbean islands are now pooling their efforts to permanently eliminate the small market penalty that has stalled deployment for years.

Persistent global oil price shocks serve as a stark reminder that the Caribbean must act urgently. Failing to build renewables options now will trigger another wave of fossil fuel infrastructure investments, trapping the region into a high-cost, high-carbon future.

A solid foundation

Most Caribbean islands have already set ambitious renewable energy targets, aiming for 50 to 100 percent renewable generation between 2030 and 2040.

Barbados proves that rapid deployment is possible. The island’s distributed solar photovoltaic capacity is on track to meet 80 percent of its peak demand. While this high share of renewables reduces vulnerability to external fuel shocks, it also challenges grid stability. This reality highlights the need for integrated approaches that combine grid reinforcement with improved electricity storage.

Many other Caribbean nations are still in the earlier stages of this transition, often held back by weak policy and regulatory frameworks. As renewables gain traction, governments face similar technical challenges, including frequency control, voltage regulation and reserve management. Without adequate energy storage and grid management, grid instability will likely stall future renewable growth.

Taming instability

Battery storage solutions are critical to facilitating this transition. BESS technology manages renewable energy variability by storing excess generation and dispatching it when needed.

To help isolated island power systems achieve high renewable penetration, batteries must be deployed at a meaningful scale. A proven target ratio is 1MW of storage power capacity for every 3MW of renewable capacity, with roughly four hours of storage duration.

For now, market, regulatory and institutional bottlenecks are slowing the expansion of battery storage solutions. Investors face uncertainty because mechanisms to monetize grid services, like energy arbitrage and stabilization, remain poorly defined. Furthermore, most grid operators lack experience managing batteries as dynamic assets, and weak procurement processes undermine commercial viability.

CAPP solves these problems through competitive, well-structured and scalable tenders for both renewables and large-scale battery systems. By pooling resources and collaborating regionally, islands achieve massive economies of scale that can slash energy project costs by up to 30 percent.

Advancements in energy storage and technology have paved the way for universal access to clean, reliable power. However, market forces alone will not solve the Caribbean’s energy paradox. The region needs a unified framework to solve its coordination problem — and CAPP is that solution. The time to act is now.