The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) have five renewable energy projects in developing countries.
The projects will be financed in the second cycle with $57 million in concessional loans. They have a combined total capacity of 35 megawatts, bringing reliable and sustainable power to more than 280,000 people in rural communities that lack access to modern energy services.
The loans will go to projects in a geographically diverse set of countries including Argentina, Cuba, Iran, Mauritania and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Renewable energy offers the prospect of clean, affordable power to the 1.3 billion people currently off the electricity grid,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “While renewable energy resources are abundant in many communities suffering from energy poverty, finance is still a key challenge for deployment.”
This is the second loan cycle of seven, which together will commit $350 million over seven years to the deployment of renewable energy in developing countries, with a total project value of an estimated $800 million. The funds from ADFD mobilise other funds and will lead to more than double the invested amount.
Projects approved for funding in the second loan cycle include solar, hydro, hybrid (wind and solar) and geothermal energy. The projects selected represent a mix of renewable energy sources, are innovative, potentially replicable or scalable, and will improve energy access.
Adel Abdulla Al Hosani, Director of Operations Department in ADFD, said: “We are keen to support the economic development and deployment of sustainable energy projects in countries with immense clean energy potential, but lacking necessary financial resources and project management expertise.”
The third funding cycle of the Project Facility is now open for project proposals, with concessional loan interest rates of 1-2 per cent. These new, lower rates will support an even broader range of renewable energy projects throughout the remaining five loan cycles.
“The UAE sees renewable energy as a new cornerstone of sustainable development, with dramatic cost reductions having made it the most competitive energy option in many developing countries,” said Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the IRENA and Director of Energy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
