• ADB partners with the private sector to develop utility-scale renewable energy projects to provide reliable, affordable, and clean electricity across Asia and the Pacific.

12 Things to Know: The Rise of Renewable Energy in Asia and the Pacific

Asia and the Pacific must meet its rapidly-growing energy demands using clean energy that safeguards the environment and spurs action on climate change. Across the region, ADB works with the private sector to overcome barriers to investment and to finance facilities that generate and distribute energy from renewable sources.

Here is a glimpse into how ADB uses innovative approaches to make renewable energy projects viable and promote low-carbon economic growth.

1. Private sector support is key to the region’s transition to renewable energy.

In 2019, some 26% of ADB Private Sector Operations’ committed transactions, amounting to $346 million, are for clean energy.

2. Helping the region reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions is a priority for ADB.

In 2019, active private sector projects supported by ADB, including renewable energy projects, helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a combined 18.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Source: ADB Annual Report 2019

3. New technologies can make clean energy more viable and affordable.

ADB supported Lomligor Company Limited to develop a 10-megawatt (MW) wind power plant in southern Thailand. Its advanced battery energy storage system­–a first in Thailand–allows energy to be stored when wind turbines generate more power than the grid can absorb. Source: Southern Thailand Wind Power and Battery Energy Storage Project

4. Clean energy sources can be paired to boost their share of a country’s energy mix.

In Viet Nam, ADB’s private sector operations financed the country’s first large-scale installation of floating solar photovoltaic panels and the largest in Southeast Asia. The plant pairs hydro and solar technology as it is located on the reservoir of an existing hydropower plant. Source: Floating Solar Energy Project

5. Countries can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet climate targets using indigenous energy sources.

A 216-MW run-of-river hydropower plant on the Trishuli River in Nepal, supported by a $60 million loan from ADB, is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 446,000 metric tons annually. Source: Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project 

6. Solar power can help countries meet clean energy targets.

In Mongolia, a 15-MW solar plant in partnership with Sermsang Power Corporation Public Company Limited will help efforts to lift clean energy’s share of total installed capacity from 12% in 2017 to 30% by 2030. The 35-MW Spectra Solar Power Project, supported by ADB, will help increase renewable energy’s share of total generation capacity in Bangladesh to 10% by 2021. Source:Sermsang Khushig Khundii Solar Project; Spectra Solar Power Project

7. Geothermal power extracted from beneath the Earth’s surface has huge potential.

In Indonesia, ADB has supported the construction of the Sarulla, Muara Laboh, and Rantau Dedap geothermal plants. A further two geothermal plants in the Philippines have been financed through a bond issue. Source: Developing Indonesia’s Geothermal Power Potential; Tiwi and MakBan Geothermal Power Green Bonds Project

8. Low-temperature geothermal resources can also deliver urban and industrial heating.

A $250 million loan to Arctic Green Energy Corporation and Sinopec Green Energy Geothermal Company Limited provided households and businesses in the People’s Republic of China with access to safe, stable, and low-emissions heat from geothermal sources. Source: Geothermal District Heating Project

9. Clean energy through private investment is crucial in fragile and conflict-affected situations.

In Afghanistan, ADB provided a loan and mobilized private capital for the country’s first grid-connected renewable energy venture—the Kandahar Solar Power Project. The 15.1-MW plant will increase Afghanistan’s energy security by reducing its reliance on energy imports. Source: Kandahar Solar Power Project

10. ADB is helping fossil-fuel dominated economies of Central Asia transition to clean energy

ADB is helping fossil-fuel dominated economies of Central Asia transition to clean energy. An $11.5 million loan in tenge equivalent to support the Baikonyr Solar Power Project in Kazakhstan will help increase the country’s share of renewable energy to 50% by 2050. A $30.5 million loan in tenge equivalent helped to finance the M-KAT Solar Power Project in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of Central Asia’s largest solar power plants. This supported the country’s efforts to reduce dependence on coal-fired plants for electricity. Source: Baikonyr Solar Power Project; M-KAT Solar Power Project

11. Sometimes it takes more than a loan to establish a foundation for clean energy.

ADB’s Pacific Renewable Energy Program uses donor funds to provide partial risk guarantees, letters of credit, and technical assistance as well as direct loans to boost long-term private investment in the power sectors of Pacific island countries. Source: Pacific Renewable Energy Program

12. ADB uses blended finance to make private sector renewable projects more viable.

It can mobilize long-term investment, concessional loans, and donor funds through cofinancing partners like Clean Technology Fund, the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia, and Leading Asia’s Private Sector Infrastructure Fund.  Source: ADB’s Cofinancing Partnerships