IRENA and ADFD announce USD 46 million in loans for four renewable energy projects
ABU DHABI - The UAE-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFA) approved loans worth USD 46 million for renewable energy projects in four African and Caribbean countries that would provide almost 760,000 people with electricity.
The projects in the developing countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Senegal aim to generate 12 megawatt (MW) of renewable energy, create jobs, and electrify rural villages.
"While renewable energy resources are abundant in many developing countries, adequate finance can still be a barrier to deployment. IRENA and ADFD's pioneering partnership contributes to overcoming this challenge, by selecting innovative projects for concessional funding," IRENA Director-General Adnan Amin told media attending the IRENA assembly session on Sunday.
The projects would be funded through the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility, which has committed USD 350 million over seven annual funding cycles to increase the deployment of renewable energy in developing countries to narrow the energy divide.
Every year, the facility invites proposals from developing countries for innovative projects to improve energy access, energy security and livelihoods.
"Through this collaboration, we have ensured the availability of necessary financial resources to move the sustainable development agenda forward," ADFD Director-General Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi said in a statement.
In Antigua and Barbuda, USD 15 million will be allocated for a 4 MW wind and solar project to provide energy for desalination, and which is expected to avoid 8,275 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Another USD 10 million was approved for a 3.6 MW solar PV mini-grid project in Burkina Faso to provide energy services to more than 12,000 local families.
Cape Verde received USD 8 million for a 2 MW hybrid grid-connected solar PV and wind project to provide a 100 percent renewable energy solution for the Island of Brava. The project will avoid 4,665 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The vice minister for renewable energy development in Senegal, Mor Mbaye, told Zawya on the sidelines of the event that the solar project in his country would provide electricity to 80,000 people and would also create jobs.
"We had an investment requirement for USD 27 million in Senegal to install 2 megawatt solar PV mini-grid project, out of which USD 13 million will be funded by IRENA/ADFD facility project," he said.
Project Facility loans are provided to finance up to 50 percent of each project, attracting co-financing from banks, international financial institutions and other development partners.
So far the program has extended USD 144 million in project funding over its first three cycles. The fourth cycle is now open for proposals until 15 February 2016, with concessional loan interest rates of 1-2 percent provided by ADFD.
© Zawya 2016
