1 July 2014: During the month of June, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) undertook activities and approved funding for sustainable energy projects in various countries, including: Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sweden, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Japan and South Africa.

In Kazakhstan, the World Bank signed a $21.7 million Grant Agreement for the Kazakhstan Energy Efficiency Project. The Agreement will support the implementation of the four-year project to foster an enabling environment for enhancing energy efficiency, including through the modernization of 75 schools, hospitals and other public facilities; a public awareness campaign; and an improved institutional framework for sustainable energy finance. [World Bank Press Release]

Kazakhstan will also receive support from EBRD, which is providing a $34 million loan for energy-efficient street lighting in Kazakhstan’s city of Almaty Kala. The loan will contribute to an ongoing modernization programme in the city that aims to improve energy efficiency, public utilities and transport. [EBRD Press Release]

In Moldova, EBRD’s Moldovan Residential Energy Efficiency Financing Facility (MoREEFF) is providing €35 million in credit to local partner banks for a programme to improve energy efficiency in the residential sector. The programme, with joint support from Sweden and the EU Neighborhood Investment Facility (NIF), helps reduce customers’ electricity bills by saving 55 million kilowatt-hours per year through better insulation and other building retrofits. [EBRD Press Release]

In Ukraine, EBRD, CIF, and the GEF are supporting the Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility (USELF), a €140 million credit program for small and medium-sized renewable energy projects. USELF includes seven renewable energy projects and an initiative to open the country’s energy markets and improve national renewable energy regulations. Of the €140 million in credit, €100 million will come from EBRD and another €40 million from the CIF Clean Technology Fund. The GEF has contributed support for technical assistance and policy dialogue. [EBRD Press Release]

In Slovakia, EBRD announced a €20 million loan for the third phase of the Sustainable Energy Finance Facility in Slovakia (SlovSEFF III). The loan will be extended to one of Slovakia’s leading banks, Slovenska Sporitelna, a.s. (SLSP), to be on-lent to private companies to promote renewable energy projects, as well as industrial and building energy efficiency. EBRD expects to provide a total of €40 million in financing for SlovSEFF III, with an additional €2 million in donor from Spain. Slovakia will source further funding for the initiative from the sale of carbon credits to Spain. [EBRD Press Release]

In Sweden, the energy company Fortum Värme will receive a €260 million loan for the design, construction and operation of a biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The plant will have a production capacity of 280 megawatts heat and 130 megawatts electricity after construction is completed in 2016. [EBRD Press Release]

In Ecuador, IDB approved a $220 million loan to strengthen the country’s National Electricity Distribution System (SND) and to plan a strategy to move residential energy use from liquified petroleum gas (LPG) to electricity. The 25-year term loan will also finance training and operations for electricity distribution enterprises (EDE). The amount, to be disbursed over a 48-month period, includes $50 million from the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, and an additional $27.4 million in local finance for a package totallying $247.4 million. [IDB Press Release]

In the Dominican Republic, IDB approved a $78 million, 25-year term loan to modernize the country’s electrical distribution grid and reduce electricity losses, which averaged 33% at the end of 2013. The project will include measures to overhaul priority circuits in the grid, as well as to improve measurement, billing and payment collection by strengthening the technical and commercial management of the electricity distribution enterprises (EDEs) that provide these services. The project also aims to improve the quality of electricity supplied to end users. [IDB Press Release]

In Japan, ADB announced the creation of the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM) to support greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation projects under the JCM, a bilateral carbon market mechanism between Japan and eight developing country partners in the region. The Government of Japan has committed ¥1.8 billion, or about $17.65 million, to the fund, which will provide up-front grant financing and technical assistance to reduce project costs, with a focus on smart grids, waste-to-energy schemes, energy efficiency and other proven advanced low-carbon technologies that developing countries have not yet widely adopted. [ADB Press Release]

In South Africa, AfDB approved a $142 million senior loan for a 100 megawatt concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in South Africa, marking the first time the Bank has funded a renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) and private sector Clean Technology Fund (CTF) in the country. Senior debt for the $908 million XiNa Solar One project, which will support a target to reduce national dependence on coal-fired plants, will be co-financed by other development finance institutions and three commercial South African banks. [AfDB Press Release]

The AfDB Board also approved the establishment and management of the Africa Climate Technology Finance Center and Network (ACTFCN) to scale-up the deployment of low-carbon and climate resilient technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies. The Bank will implement three-year pilot initiative with $9.09 million in support from the GEF Trust Fund and $5.25 million from the GEF Special Climate Change Fund. [AfDB Press Release]

The ‘Sustainable Energy Finance Update’ feature of Sustainable Energy Policy & Practice provides a monthly overview of investments by international financial institutions (IFIs) as they relate to sustainable energy and energy efficiency.