Social Enterprise Solutions Servicing Rural Communities and Sustainable Tourism Development in Indonesia

Local start-up Sumba Sustainable Solutions are partnering with rural women to reduce their domestic workload using solar-powered corn and rice mills in remote villages in Sumba, Indonesia. The mills are coupled with household Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar light and phone charger systems in a sustainable social business model currently servicing 2500 customers.

Dawa Chhoedron

Dawa Chhoedron works for the Royal Government of Bhutan as the Chief Engineer in Power Systems and Market Division under the Department of Energy in the  Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. She also serves on the board of Druk Green Power Corporation Limited.

With over 19 years of experience in the energy sector, she specializes in energy policy, strategic planning, electricity markets, cross-border trade, energy systems modeling, data analytics, carbon trading, and greenhouse gas inventory reporting.

Lei Zhang

Mr. Lei Zhang has 28 years of professional experience in preparing and administering infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector. He joined ADB as an energy specialist in 2010. He has worked for around 5 years each in the South Asia Energy Division and the Central and West Asia Energy Division, including over 3 years as an outpost at ADB’s Pakistan Resident Mission. In April 2020, he joined the East Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Division as Unit Head of Project Administration.

Catalyzing Change Through Regional Strategies and Smart Solutions: A Capacity Development Event for Small Island Developing States in the Pacific

The Emerging Areas Energy Sector team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted four workshops at the Joy Nostalg Hotel in Manila, Philippines. The event brought together policymakers, regulators, utilities, and development partners from ADB’s developing member countries—particularly Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS)—to share knowledge, foster regional cooperation on clean energy transitions, support decarbonization, explore AI applications in power utilities, and provide practical tools and cross-sector insights for effective development interventions.

Global Insights: ADB’s Programmatic Approach to Power Sector Reforms in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, ADB’s programmatic approach and policy-based loan for the Power Sector Reforms and Financial Sustainability aims to consolidate the electricity industry reforms implemented under the Electricity Act 2009 by unbundling Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) into wholly-owned corporate entities for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, implementation of fully cost reflective tariffs, facilitate an enabling environment for market liberalization, and strengthen renewable energy investment activities in the country.

Asia Clean Energy Forum 2025: Empowering the Future - Clean Energy Innovations, Regional Cooperation and Integration, and Financing Solutions

The Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF), an annual flagship event of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will be held from 2 to 6 June 2025 at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines, under the theme “Empowering the Future: Clean Energy Innovations, Regional Cooperation and Integration, and Financing Solutions.”