In September 2018, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) hired Catavento to provide recommendations for the governance of the UK Prosperity Fund Energy Centre in Brazil. The Energy Program in Brazil aims to “support Brazil’s low carbon transition plan for secure green energy to meet its NDC targets, demonstrating what works in economic and efficient smart grid management through pilots of innovative technologies and approaches such as smart meters, demand side response and battery storage. The programme seeks to promote gender equality with particular focus on increasing women’s participation in the energy sector and access to cheap and affordable energy for poorer households.”

In order to deliver robust and evidence-based recommendations, Catavento implemented a methodology based on interviews with high-level stakeholders and benchmark analysis of other energy-focused centres.

In this sense, Catavento interviewed 03 (three) executives from the UK Embassy in Brazil team and 12 (twelve) external stakeholders, among private companies’ leaders, government officials, senior experts and academia scholars. All the interviews were conducted by Clarissa Lins, Catavento’s founding partner, and were based on semi-structured questionnaires aimed at identifying opportunities, risks and overall perceptions regarding the Energy Program initiative. At the same time, the benchmark analysis was based on desk research and interviews with 03 (three) energy-focused institutions in order to gather insights for Catavento’s recommendations.

Finally, Catavento provided the UK FCO with recommendations regarding the overall centre’s objectives, governance model and operating model.