Asian Development Bank approves project to help Sri Lanka adopt more solar power generation
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reportedly granted approval for a project under which Sri Lanka would receive aid to adopt more solar energy in its power generation mix, upgrade transmission systems and raise funds.
According to reports, the ADB aid for deploying solar energy at scale covers south Asia and includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives and Nepal.
The funds, from the Clean Energy Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, will ensure environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as regional integration, the ADB has reportedly stated.
The project will help with identification and development of solar project pipeline which may include pilot testing, identification of financial instruments and help in mobilising funding for solar investments, reports state.
“Solar is the world’s largest available energy resource, much larger than all other resources combined: the solar radiation hitting the earth every hour is more than total global energy consumption,” the ADB has further stated.
“In the context of sustainable development and climate change, scaling up of solar energy investments is one of the best options with respect to distribution of the resource in countries which are energy poor in terms of conventional energy, as well as a broad spectrum of applications and scale and speed of deployment.”
The project will also help implement the cooperation agreement between ADB and the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which promotes solar power, the ADB has noted.
Potential projects will use solar energy for electricity generation, irrigation, mini-grids, and other applications which all require similar viability assessments covering technical, financial, economic, safeguards, governance, and procurement aspects, the ADB has added.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka is looking at renewable energy solutions to address the country’s power crisis. Therefore there are many business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/19082019/Z_2 |