First Suriname I-REC issuances expand regional pursuit of sustainability

Suriname has issued its first International Renewable Energy Certificates and has landed a deal that ranks its prices as among the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Power company Energie Bedrijven Suriname completed the first issuance of 1,903 I-RECs from the second half of 2023 Aug. 16, with two pending deliveries expected to be completed by September and November of this year. South Pole, a Swiss company with a global I-REC portfolio, has already purchased the 4,200 certificates' batch at $1.70/MWh, a higher price than those reported for Brazil, Chile and Mexico, the biggest I-REC markets across Latin America and the Caribbean.

While it is uncertain who the first end-user will be, considering Suriname has a single registered market participant, Heineken Suriname subsidiary Parbo Bier might be the only eligible end-consumer.

Nonetheless, demand for Surinamese I-RECs will come from a variety of sectors. Peter Donk, the Suriname Energy Chamber's energy specialist, said demand will be driven by telecommunications providers, food and beverages industry, mining, and major oil and gas companies, which have concessions offshore in Suriname territory.

"All, if not most, of these sectors have social corporate policies to abide by, or at least social corporate strategies in development, especially concerning sustainable development, thus considering upstream and downstream value chain 'greening' demand will address scope 2 and 3 carbon redemption," Donk told Platts Aug. 19.

Suriname's potential 1TWh I-REC market

Suriname's three major renewable energy generators are EBS, IAMGOLD and Staatsolie, whose total accumulated installed capacity is 199 MW. From that total, 10 MW comes from solar -- with the EBS and IAMGOLD both possessing 5 MW each -- and the remaining 189 MW comes from Staatsolie's Afobaka hydrodam.

Currently, only 2.3 MW is registered under the I-REC Standard: the 2 MW PV Nickerie and 300 kW PV Coronie plants, both under EBS. Donk projected that if all of Suriname's installed capacity issued I-RECs, the country would surpass the 1TWh threshold annually.

Being a small developing economy, Suriname sees I-RECs as the best tool for greening its economy.

"Suriname's green policy and strategies are still a 'greenfield' " Donk said Aug. 19. "The country can embed the I-REC mechanism in the recently started Suriname's Green Development Strategy and associated policy. The idea has been discussed during recent workshops and is considered an integral part of its development. Of course, we are in the starting phase, so more elaborate discussions will follow."

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.