Private sector loan for renewable energy and electric vehicle charging system signed between ADB and Energy Absolute

On 11 February, ADB and the Energy Absolute Public Company Limited signed a $47.62 million green loan that will finance the Nakornsawan Solar and Hanuman Wind power plants and deploy fast and standard chargers at charging stations across Thailand.The country intends to be the regional forerunner in electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from conventional transportation, which currently accounts for around 26% of the country’s total annual emissions.This green loan is the first climate loan in Thailand to be certified by the Climate Bond Initiative, which administers the i

Cambodia grid reinforcement project approved

The ADB Board on 11 September approved a loan to improve the transmission and distribution network in Cambodia. The concessional loan in the amount of $127.8 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources is being supplemented by grants where $4.7 million will be coming from the Strategic Climate Fund under the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low-Income Countries that is providing $4.7 million and $2 million from the Clean Energy Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility. The grant component will finance the pilot of a battery energy storage system (BESS).

Two energy projects approved for Central and West DMCs

The Board approved on 28 September the $200 million policy-based loan that will strengthen the power sector in Uzbekistan. The Power Sector Reform Program will improve the financial sustainability of the sector, will help create an environment conducive to sustained investments, particularly from the private sector, and improve the regulatory environment that promotes transparency, fairness, and competition.

Building Sustainability and Resilience in the Energy Sector

Read through what the experts, including Energy Sector Group’s own Chief - say about aligning power system planning and management with climate goals. The task is already complicated enough with meeting supply reliability and quality, and in recent years, the integration of renewables. But having a holistic approach to include adaptation measures is the only way to go if the power sector is to withstand the effects of climate change.

First SDG Dialogues held

On 7 April, President Masa delivered the Opening Keynote speech at the first SDG Dialogues: A Decade of Action – Enabling the SDGs. The Dialogue in this first round reflected on ADB’s efforts to support the SDGs, and opportunities to help developing members accelerate progress on the Goals as they recover from the COVID 19 pandemic.

Six Ways to Jumpstart a Green Recovery After COVID-19

In this article, Bruce Dunn, SDSS Director and the Environment TG OIC shares 6 ideas of rebounding from the coronavirus pandemic through the more sustainable path. See how energy figures in the mix.Major multilateral development banks including ADB committed $66 billion in 2020 from $61 billion in 2019. Around $38 billion (58% ) has been committed for low to middle-income countries.

Project evaluations show that greater energy access leads to income and education gains

IED’s Ari Perdana, et al. provides more empirical evidence on the correlation between energy access, income, and education. Their study finds that programs that increase electricity access led to slight improvements in both income and education measures with the largest gains observed in the increased amount of time spent on studying. The study included a review of 124 impact evaluation reports done since 2004.