October 2014: During the month of October, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank and other donors undertook activities and approved funding for sustainable energy projects in, among other countries, Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Comoros, Guyana, Kenya, the Maldives, Mali, Moldova, Morocco, the Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine, Uruguay, Turkey, and Viet Nam.

In Albania, EBRD has approved a €12.7 million investment to help upgrade the 600 mega-watt (MW) Komani hydro power plant. The plant, which is the largest of three hydro cascades that provide 65 percent of the country’s electricity demand, will undergo an upgrade to bring it up to modern safety standards, after no major maintenance operations since its construction 30 years ago. [EBRD Press Release]

In Austria, EIB has signed a €85 million loan agreement for the construction of four wind farms with a total capacity of 105 MW. EIB signed the agreement with the intermediary bank Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien AG (RLB NÖW) and project promoter WindLandKraft GmbH, and made available €20 million for the initial construction phase of the project. [EIB Press Release]

In Azerbaijan, EBRD is lending US$3 million in loans under its Caucasus Energy Efficiency Programme (CEEP), which lends to local financial institutions to support industrial and residential energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy projects. Muganbank will receive the amount to help local entrepreneurs and households with the acquisition and installation of energy efficient equipment, appliances and materials, such as insulation, gas boilers, solar water heaters and solar panels. [EBRD Press Release]

In Comoros, SEFA has approved a US$480,000 technical assistance grant to facilitate private sector participation in renewable energy development. The Government of the Union of Comoros will receive the funds for the project, which aims to provide reliable and cost-effective modern energy services to households, businesses and industry through: tariff structures (feed in tariff) for small to medium renewable energy projects; standard contractual or legal documents (power purchase agreements/steam supply agreements) for renewable energy; and capacity building and skills enhancement programs on technical, economic, financial and legal aspects of renewable energy. [AfDB Press Release]

In Guyana, a US$37.4 million loan from IDB and US$26.9 million grant from the European Union’s (EU) Caribbean Investment Fund will be used to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the country’s national power system. A portion of the funds are to support the improved management and corporate performance of Guyana Power and Light, Inc. (GPL), Guyana’s national utility. [IDB Press Release]

In Kenya, AfDB has approved a US$12.7 million African Development Fund partial risk guarantee (ADF PRG) to mitigate investment risk in the 105 MW Menengai Independent Power Producers geothermal project. The funds will shield independent power producers (IPPs) and their debt financiers from the risk of non-payment and non-supply from state-owned enterprises involved in the project. [AfDB Press Release]

In the Maldives, ADB, EIB and the Islamic Development Bank have designated US$110 million for the installation of solar-diesel hybrid grids on 160 islands. The initiative seeks to reduce the Maldives’ dependence on expensive oil imports, which cost US$470 million in 2012. Of the US$110 million, US$38 million grant will come from an ADB grant and another US$12 million from the ADB-administered CIF Strategic Climate Fund. EIB and the Islamic Development Bank will provide US$50 million and US$10 million, respectively, in additional co-financing. [ADB Press Release]

In Mali, AfDB has allocated US$1.5 million from CIF’s Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP) to support renewable energy investment and development by: improving policy, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks; strengthening stakeholder capacities and ensuring knowledge management, communication and advocacy; and improving monitoring and evaluation. The funds will go to Mali’s National Directorate of Energy, as well as other energy-related agencies and public and private investors, as part of the Project for Scaling-up Renewable Energy in Mali (PAPERM). [AfDB Press Release]

In Moldova, EBRD has provided a €7 million loan, with up to €3 million in additional financing from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), to modernize district heating in the country’s second largest city, Bălți. The full amount will be provided to the the state-owned company CET-Nord JSC to install residential heating sub-stations, three energy-efficient combined heat and power generation plants, and other measures to upgrade the district heating system, increase energy efficiency, and reduce operating costs and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. [EBRD Press Release]

In Morocco, the World Bank approved a US$400 million loan and allocated another US$119 million from the CIF Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to finance the expansion of the Noor-Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Project. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy will use the funds to support the second, 350 MW phase of the project. In 2011, the Bank approved the initial 160 MW phase of the project, which is currently under construction. [World Bank Press Release]

In the Netherlands, EIB has signed €150 million loan contract with the national electricity transmission system operator, TenneT B.V., to bring wind power from the North Sea to consumers in north-west Europe through the construction of the The Randstad 380 kV transmission loop. [EIB Press Release]

In Romania, EIB is lending €22.47 million to cut the consumption of energy for heating by 50 percent in 9500 apartments in 140 buildings in Bucharest. The amount represents the first tranche of a €42 million approved EIB loan that is supporting the second phase of a €60 million programme to refurbish multi-family housing the city. [EIB Press Release]

Romania will also receive a RON 100 million loan (€22.6 million equivalent) and €900,000 in grant-based assistance from EBRD to upgrade the urban transport infrastructure in the municipality Galați. The funds will be used to rehabilitate urban infrastructure and improve public transport, with the goal of reducing fuel consumption, cutting air pollution, and increasing mobility for all of the city’s residents. [EBRD Press Release]

In Turkey, the CTF Trust Fund Committee approved a request from the World Bank Group for the allocation of US$29.45 million for the second phase of the Commercializing Sustainable Energy Finance (CSEF) Program and an additional US$550,000 for project implementation and supervision services. The program aims to work with local financial institutions to scale-up energy efficiency projects in Turkey’s small and medium enterprise (SME), commercial, residential and municipal sectors. [CIF Approval Notification] [CIF Project Website]

In Ukraine, EBRD together with E5P and CIF’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF) will provide up to €14 million in loans to modernize district heating the western municipality of Lutsk. The amount will be used to upgrade district heating services for nearly 55,000 households, while improving energy efficiency and reducing energy losses, operating costs, and gas and electricity consumption. [EBRD Press Release]

Also in Ukraine, the CTF Trust Fund approved an allocation of US$24 million submitted by EBRD for the Residential Energy Efficiency Finance Facility (UREEFF) to be on-lent to eligible private sector sub-borrowers for sustainable energy investments in the residential sector. The CTF Trust Fund approved an additional US$152,000 for knowledge management, evaluation, supervision and monitoring. [CIF Approval Notification] [EBRD Project Website]

In Uruguay, IDB has approved a loan up to US$42.2 million to finance the 48.6 MW Kiyú wind farm in the department of San José. The project, being developed by Cobra Ingeniería Uruguay SA, is expected to reduce emissions CO2 emissions from fossil fuels by 122,135 tons per year. The funds will support the private sector development, construction and operation of the the plant and related facilities. [IDB Press Release]

In Viet Nam, the CTF Trust Fund approved an allocation of US$98.95 million submitted by ADB for the Ha Noi Sustainable Urban Transport Program (SUT). [CIF Approval Decision] [CIF Program Website 1] [CIF Program Website 2]

In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) established the ECOWAS Women’s Business Fund to lift financial barriers to the development and implementation of women-led business initiatives in the energy sector. The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) are supporting the initiative. [ECREEE Press Release] [ECOWAS Women’s Business Fund Concept Note]

In regard to publications and meetings, Bloomberg New Energy Finance released a study on clean energy finance in emerging economies commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), under the US Government’s ‘Power Africa’ initiative. The study, titled ‘Climatescope 2014,’ found that emerging markets have added 142 GW in clean energy capacity over the last five years, representing faster growth than in developed countries. [IDB Press Release] [Climatescope 2014 Report Website] [Publication: Climatescope 2014: Mapping the Global Frontiers of Clean Energy Investment] [IISD RS Story]

BNEF also reported that global clean energy investment reached US$175 billion in the first months of 2014, 16% higher than during the same period in 2013. [BNEF Press Release] [IISD RS Story]

At the 2014 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF), a ministerial-level forum for intergovernmental consensus building on development issues called on the two financial institutions to support the delivery of efficient, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy, including through the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL). [Annual Meetings Website] [IISD RS Story]

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) report prepared for CIF on geothermal power has found that the technology is the least expensive renewable power source but lacks adequate public finance for early phase exploration work. [CIF Publication Webpage] [Publication: The Role of Public Finance in Deploying Geothermal: Background Paper] [IISD RS Story]

At a meeting of the AfDB-hosted SE4ALL Africa Hub, Central African countries have backed a regional policy to promote universal energy access and social and economic development under the SE4ALL initiative. [AfDB Press Release] [IISD RS Story]

ADB released a brochure on its clean energy bonds initiative, which has raised over US$820 million under the bank’s clean energy programme to meet energy security needs, facilitate a transition to a low-carbon economy since 2010. [ADB Press Release]

The World Bank and ADB held the ‘Green Tech Bootcamp’ to support Vietnamese businesses in developing sustainable energy-related solutions and adaptation technologies in the transport, agricultural and water sectors. [World Bank Press Release] [IISD RS Story]

At the launch of the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) in the Americas, IDB was welcomed as the host of SE4ALL’s online regional hub, which will centralize information, events, standards and country status reports in support of the initiative. IDB Vice-President Hans Schulz said IDB is set to finance sustainable energy projects over five years for US$5 billion. [SE4ALL Summary of the Launch] [IISD RS Story]

Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy and the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT-SENER) Fund for Energy Sustainability (FSE) and the IDEAS Program of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have issued a call for proposals for the ‘IDEAS V 2014 Energy Innovation Contest,’ which will fund innovative projects in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency and rural energy access in Mexico and the Latin American and Caribbean region. [IDB Press Release] [IISD RS Story]

In Kosovo, EBRD has held a Sustainable Energy Excellence Awards ceremony to recognize outstanding sustainable energy carried out under the Kosovo Sustainable Energy Projects (KoSEP) framework. Six sustainable energy, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects were recognized at the event, as well as three financial partner institutions for their commitment to sustainable energy financing. KoSEP is a €12 million facility launched in 2013 with additional finance from the EU and Norway. To date, the facility has provided more than €5 million to over 1000 wide-ranging projects, including the installation of window insulation, efficient boilers, biomass-fuelled room heaters, and solar water systems. [EBRD Press Release]