Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

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AT A GLANCE:

• The World Bank Group (WBG) committed $680 million in fiscal year 2006 to New-Renewable Energy (New RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) projects. 

• This is an increase of 48 percent when compared to last year’s commitments.

• This is more than double the 20 percent annual growth rate the WBG committed to achieve two years ago in Bonn. 

Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Commitments

In fiscal year 2006 (July 2005-June 2006), the commitments by the WBG – the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), along with the Carbon Finance operations, and co-financing support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – comprised the following:

• $490 million for Energy Efficiency
• $190 million for New Renewable Energy – wind, solar, biomass, geothermal (80 percent of New RE commitments), and hydropower up to 10 MW per facility (20 percent).
• The subtotal of $680 million can be compared with the WBG commitment of $459 million towards New Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in fiscal year 2005.
  In addition, in fiscal year 2006 the WBG committed $192 million for hydropower projects which were larger than 10MW per facility.
• In addition, in fiscal year 2006 the WBG committed $192 million for hydropower projects which were larger than 10MW per facility.

The total amount of funds committed by the WBG for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency programs in 2006 was $871 million, according to newly released data. Commitments for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency  were 37 percent of total power sector commitments and 20 percent of WBG total energy sector commitments in fiscal year 2006, which reached $4.4 billion.  In fiscal year 2006, the WBG supported 62 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in 35 countries. 

Overall, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency commitments by each organizational unit were as follows:

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), including Global Environment Facility (GEF) co-financing and carbon funds, $418 million;
• International Finance Corporation (IFC), including GEF co-financing and other trust funds, $452 million; and
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), $1.8 million for energy efficiency.

Meeting the Commitments Made at the Bonn International Renewable Energies Conference

In Bonn, Germany, in June 2004, at the International Renewable Energies Conference, the WBG committed to increasing its support for New Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency  by an average of 20 percent per year from 2005 to 2009. This was later affirmed by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors during discussions of the management response to the Extractive Industries Review. In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, cumulative New Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency commitments reached $1.14 billion, double the Bonn commitment target of $552 million for these two years.

Building Capacities, Creating and Disseminating Knowledge are Essential Elements of WBG Support for Scaling-up Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

The WBG works extensively with its partners to build capacity and provide sector information and knowledge in addition to investment support. To improve its communication and to more effectively disseminate knowledge, the Energy and Water Department of the World Bank launched a Renewable Energy Web Site (http://www.worldbank.org/re), and a Renewable Energy Toolkit (REToolKit) (http://www.worldbank.org/retoolkit) – an interactive web-based tool for renewable energy practitioners and policymakers.

The Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) (http://www.esmap.org), a multi-donor facility at the World Bank, committed $1.5 million for renewable energy and $1 million for energy efficiency. These commitments provided strong support to sector work and technical assistance, including multi-year projects. These projects are expected to lead to the development of supportive policies and identification of prospective investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.   Additional support to developing countries is provided through the Asia Alternative Energy Program and other trust funds.

For more information about the World Bank Group’s commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency, please visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/energyand http://www.worldbank.org/re

For information on World Bank Group projects, please visit

http://www.worldbank.org/projects, http://www.ifc.org, and http://www.miga.org

Additional Information

Updated August 2006

Media contacts:
Sergio Jellinek: (202) 458-2841  E-mail: Sjellinek@worldbank.org
Roger Morier: (202) 473-5675  E-mail: Rmorier@worldbank.org
Kristyn Schrader:  (202) 458-2736  E-mail: Kschrader@worldbank.org