Global Environment Facility (GEF) and World Bank Donate US$15 Million to Support Energy Efficiency In Argentina

Contacts:  

  In Buenos Aires: Yanina Budkin (54-11) 4316-9724

ybudkin@worldbank.org

In Washington: Gabriela Aguilar (202) 473-6768

gaguilar2@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2008. - The World Bank approved today a US$15 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the aim to increase the efficiency in the use of energy and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions inArgentina.

This project will help establish regulatory and policy measures, scale up the efforts to phase out inefficient lighting, disseminate information and develop financial risk reduction instruments needed to promote energy efficiency. 

“With this grant, we are contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by helping remove the regulatory, financial, and informational barriers that prevent activities and investments in energy efficiency and energy conservation” said Pedro Alba, World Bank Country Director for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

These objectives will be achieved by:

(a) Developing a solid pipeline of bankable energy efficiency projects in the industrial and commercial sectors;

(b)  Supporting an efficient lighting program implemented through electric utilities; and

(c)  Strengthening the incentive framework for energy efficiency.

Argentina is the fourth-largest consumer of energy in Latin America, second only to Venezuela in per capita energy consumption.  Total installed capacity in 2006 was 24,046 MW, 54 percent of which was thermal, 41 percent hydro power and four percent nuclear, with less than 0.1 percent renewable.  Argentina’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 44 percent between 2003 and 2007.  This high level of economic growth has led to a corresponding increase in the demand for energy, which is projected to grow by more than five percent per year.

“Argentina has embarked upon a concerted effort to improve energy efficiency, thereby helping to reduce the need for incremental generation capacity, creating financial savings for the consumers, and ultimately reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing the need for fossil fuel-based generation” says Xiaoping Wang, World Bank task manager of the project. 

This project is financed by a US$15 million Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant and will be implemented over a six-year period.