The green energy investment arm of the Williams Industries Inc. group of companies, Williams Caribbean Capital (WCC), continues to reap major success.
Recently, the Climate Bond Standard Board approved the certification of WCC green energy bonds as consistent with addressing the two degrees celsius warming limit in the Paris Agreement. This means WCC adhered to rigorous scientific criteria to receive this certification.
With this approval, WCC has become the first Caribbean company to achieve this globally recognised certification, becoming part of the US$67.6 billion of bonds issued globally to have already achieved this feat.
This certification scheme is used globally by governments, investors, bond issuers and the financial markets to prioritise investments, which genuinely contribute to addressing climate change.
Founded in July 2017 by former Digicel Barbados Chief Executive Officer Barry O’Brien and Ciaran Burke, WCC is an investment company which is a joint venture between Williams Industries and New Caribbean Capital Partners (NCCP).
WCC is focused on renewable energy, non-plastic solutions and private equity investments and was designed to create new value diversification for Williams Industries by identifying and securing private equity positions in small, medium and large companies in the Caribbean.
Chairman of WCC David Staples lauded Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Invest, the private sector arm of the IDB Group, which provided support to WCC during the certification process.
He explained that investors had the confidence to invest in PV Solar projects funded by WCC’s green bond, partly because of the certification, of Government’s commitment to renewable energy in Barbados and partly because of the renewable energy rider rate.
Staples said WCC was putting Barbados at the forefront of the green energy sector in the Caribbean by becoming the only Caribbean company to achieve this globally recognised certification. WCC’s certified bonds enable Caribbean investors to more confidently invest in green energy.
Founder and Chairman of Williams Industries, Ralph Bizzy Williams, believes passionately that Caribbean citizens and companies should own the majority of the alternative energy generating plants across the region if they are to become “truly in charge of our own energy supply”.
In May 2018, working with the Trustee and fund raising partner Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust, WCC launched a $40 million green bond programme to deploy 12 megawatts of photovoltaic solar (PV Solar) on commercial rooftops in Barbados, and by November 2018 had issued $16 million worth of green bonds under this programme which were fully subscribed.
By this month, 4.7 MW of PV Solar is to be installed on over 300,000 square feet of commercial rooftops in Barbados. WCC plans for further bond issuances under this programme in 2019 supported by Royal Fidelity and IDB Invest.
To enable other commercial organisations to also become involved, WCC said it was seeking additional companies with large commercial rooftops to partner with to further enhance the development of Barbados and the wider Caribbean’s sustainable and low carbon future. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
