Abu Dhabi Fund For Development & IRENA Announce $44.5 Million In Funding For Developing Countries

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The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the International Renewable Energy Agency have identified four separate energy projects in developing countries throughout the Pacific and Africa which will be the beneficiaries of $44.5 million in funding.

Announced earlier this month, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) revealed that four renewable energy projects in the Marshall Islands, Niger, Seychelles, and Solomon Islands, had been selected to receive a share of $44.5 million in funding through the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility.

This is the fourth round of funding made as part of the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility, announced at the Seventh Session of the IRENA Assembly.

“Over the course of the last four years, the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility has identified path breaking renewable energy projects that are helping to expand access to energy, bolster energy security and provide sustainable, affordable energy for those who need it most,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “Importantly, this Facility is also putting in place an innovative process which supports transformational and replicable projects that can potentially bring sustainable energy to millions of people around the world.”

In January of 2014, the Project Facility provided $41 million in funding for six separate projects in Ecuador, the Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Samoa, and Sierra Leone. A year later, $57 million was provided for five separate projects in Argentina, Cuba, Iran, Mauritania, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. In 2016, $46 million was provided to four countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Brukina Faso, Cabo Verde, and Senegal.

This year’s projects receiving funding will receive concessional loans ranging from $5 million to $15 million per project, with finance offered at 1% to 2% lending rates with a 20-year loan period, including a five-year grace period. The four projects are as follows:

  • Marshall Islands: A 4.6-megawatt (MW) hybrid micro-grid project, using solar PV and advanced lithium-ion batteries, that will provide renewable energy access to over 16,000 people. It will essentially eliminate fossil fuel based generation on three outer islands and reduce it by more than a third on a fourth island.
  • Niger: A project focused on rural electrification for over 150,000 people, using 2.1 MW solar PV micro-grids and solar home kits. 100 schools will be electrified, drinking water supplies will be improved, and several thousand jobs will be created.
  • Seychelles: A government supported solar PV utility scale project will integrate a 5-MW solar PV plant into an existing wind farm, demonstrating an innovative space-saving solution for this small island nation. The project will reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, create almost 300, and supply renewable power to over 1,800 households — benefiting the entire population of 90,000 people.
  • Solomon Islands: A government-backed 20 MW reservoir dam and hydropower facility will diversify the country’s energy mix, provide renewable energy access to 5,000 people, create around 400 jobs, and avoid 44,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

“ADFD is committed towards steadfast development in the renewable energy sector; it’s a crucial industry for sustainable continuity, long-term growth and constructive evolution of developing nations,” said His Excellency Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD. “Over seven funding cycles, our USD 350 million partnership, IRENA/ADFDProject Facility, aims to support and enhance the developing world’s energy needs by tapping into their abundant renewable energy sources. This collaboration further exemplifies ADFD’s mission and commitment to provide governments with the financial resources, tools, methods and instruments to safeguard against future unknowns, grasp opportunities and seize desired development goals.”


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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