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NEWS
ADB SURPASSES CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENT TARGET FOR 5th YEAR
Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has surpassed for the fifth straight year, its annual investment target in clean energy, indicating an economic cycle where new forms of renewable energy are starting to out-compete fossil fuel-based power production.
In its 2015 Clean Energy Investments Project Summaries report, the multilateral lending institution said it invested $2.47 billion in clean energy last year, above its $2 billion annual target. This, ADB said, was driven by continuing efforts in developing Asian nations to prioritize the establishment of clean energy solutions.
At this level, investment in clean energy comprised 61 percent of ADB’s investment target for the mitigation of the ill-effects of climate change.
WORLD BANK BACKS PH’s RENEWABLE ENERGY TRACK WITH P3.1-B FUNDING
A total of $67 million or about P3.1 billion in assistance have been approved by the World Bank for two renewable energy projects in the Philippines.
The Washington-based multilateral lender’s board of executive directors on May 12 approved a $44-million guarantee under the Philippines Renewable Energy Project (PhRED).
Since PhRED was aimed at reducing the risks of commercial lending to electric cooperatives, the World Bank guarantee “would enable [program beneficiaries] to expand their electricity network, invest in renewable energy like small hydroelectric and solar power plants, and expand electricity access for poor households,” the lender said in a statement Friday.
ENERGY GROUP CALLS FOR STRONGER EFFICIENCY POLICY
ENERGY efficiency stakeholders are seeking from the Department of Energy (DOE) a stronger policy on accelerating Philippine compliance toward a low carbon energy sector.
The Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance Inc. (PE2), composed of 27 companies, seeks an expanded coverage of the proposed DOE circular to be released by the end of March. An expanded circular would include obligations of medium and large energy consumers may potentially serve as a bridge policy while efforts are underway to pass an urgent legislation.
“There has been no energy efficiency and conservation law in the Philippines in the last 36 years. We believe that policies shifting toward energy efficiency, rather than energy conservation, support economic growth instead of stifling it,” PE2 president Alexander Ablaza said.
