The World Bank’s funding for renewable and efficient energy projects in developing countries rose 87 per cent during the past year to nearly USD 2.7 billion, reflecting the growing interest and demand for environmentally-friendly sources of power.
“Concerns about energy security, climate change, and increasing energy prices make many renewable energy and energy efficiency measures and applications very attractive in a number of different settings,” said Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director for Energy, Transport, and Water.
“This is reflected in the increased demand for investment and also for technical assistance to strengthen regulatory frameworks providing incentives to climate change-friendly applications,” he added.
At the 2004 International Renewable Energies Conference in Bonn, Germany, the World Bank Group pledged to boost its financial support for new renewable energy and energy efficiency projects by 20 per cent per year.
Since then it has more than exceeded that the goal each year, committing close to USD 3.7 billion to such projects, compared with the agreed commitment goal of USD 1.3 billion, the Bank said.
The Bank’s commitments during the past fiscal year which ended in June include nearly USD 1.2 billion for energy efficiency, as well as almost USD 1.5 billion for renewable energy including wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower projects.