The Asian Development Bank will likely lend $1 billion to help the Philippines develop up to 1,000 megawatts of combined renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, a bank official revealed during the annual Asia Clean Energy Forum.
Sohail Hasnie, the bank’s senior energy specialist for Southeast Asia, said the A.D.B. is waiting for the incoming administration to come out with projects that could be prioritized, GMANews.TV reported. The Philippines concluded a presidential election in May.
Mr. Hasnie said the bank will have cofinancers for the funding commitment that could last several years.
The bank said a feasibility study will be made over the next few months to pave the way for the project’s implementation by the end of 2011.
The Manila-based multilateral financing institution will work with the country’s finance and economic development agencies to pinpoint enterprises that would receive funds.
Mr. Hasnie cited the country’s strong renewable energy potential in hydropower, wind, geothermal and solar, as examples, that needs to be exploited to lessen the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
But the energy specialist said the country needs to improve its regulatory framework on high electricity tariff and its renewable resources to promote renewable energy use.
The issues were discussed at the fifth Clean Energy Forum, which runs in Manila until Friday and is attended by over 100 energy participants from across the globe. It provides a venue to discuss policies that will help Asia increase energy efficiency and develop its renewable energy sector.
The event is co-hosted by the United States Agency for International Development, with the International Energy Agency and the World Resources Institute, among others.
“Asian countries need to think hard about low-carbon development, and a full armory of technological, financial, policy and regulatory tools will be necessary to help drive the region toward a clean energy future,” said Bindu Lohani, the bank’s vice president.
“Investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency needs to ramp up exponentially,” said Olivier Carduner, mission director for USAID’s regional development mission for Asia. “We need to make sure we are not putting unnecessary roadblocks in the way of investors, innovators and entrepreneurs,” he said.
