ADB to back renewables in Maldives with USD 50m in grants

Oct 1, 2014 - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said today it will provide USD 50 million (EUR 39.7m) in grants to back the deployment of renewable energy projects in the Maldives, including solar installations.

ADB plans to provide USD 38 million itself and will allocate an additional USD 12 million from its Strategic Climate Fund. The plan is to install new solar-diesel hybrid systems on almost 160 islands. They will be developed in four phases, with completion scheduled for 2019. The project, which also envisages replacing inefficient diesel generators and enhancing distribution systems, is expected to offset approximately 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year.

Aiming to help the country reduce its dependence on the expensive imports of diesel fuel, the European Investment Bank and the Islamic Development Bank have also decided to take part in the project. They will lend another USD 50 million and USD 10 million, respectively.

ADB is also considering backing private sector investments in an effort to optimise power systems on some larger islands so they could absorb large volumes of intermittent renewable energy.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.793)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!