World Bank Funds More Rooftop Solar in India, Clean Energy in Pakistan

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I assume it’s no coincidence the World Bank made announcements of new support for clean energy in both India and Pakistan on the same day. If you’re going to support one, you better support the other!

Anyway, the good news is that the World Bank is facilitating much more clean energy deployments in both major countries.

World Bank Support for Rooftop Solar in India

First of all, we’ve got the India story, which is perhaps a little more exciting since it concerns rooftop solar. (Also, India is … well, a bit bigger and more romanticized around the world, right?)

“The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved financing to accelerate India’s national program for solar rooftops to bring clean energy to millions of homes and create 1.7 million job opportunities across the renewable energy manufacturing, installation, and services value chain,” the World Bank wrote yesterday. 1.7 million jobs! … Or job opportunities. I’m not sure what that means, but if they actually mean jobs, that’s great.

They also mention India’s net zero commitment. Though, personally, I just find that embarrassing. Apparently, the country has committed to achieving net zero emissions … by 2070. (Yikes.) More notably, the country plans to have 60% of its electricity coming from non-fossil-fuel-based energy resources by 2035.

“While large-scale solar has grown rapidly, residential solar adoption has been limited. To unlock this potential, the Government of India established the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana program to incentivize solar rooftop installation for 10 million rural and urban households nationwide, reduce household electricity costs, and encourage local manufacturing of solar rooftop equipment,” the World Bank adds. That’s the program the financial agency is supporting.

“The financing package for the program includes an $820 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a $60 million concessional loan from the Clean Technology Fund, and a $10 million grant from IBRD’s Livable Planet Fund. In addition, the World Bank will mobilize $4.2 billion in private financing in the form of commercial loans enabling them to install solar rooftops for households.”

I don’t know enough about the workings of the World Bank to know where this stands amongst its broader work, but this is clearly a significant boost to the rooftop solar industry in India. It should be greatly appreciated.

“The program will transform the residential solar market by removing financial barriers and building the capacity of distribution companies, banks, and vendors to deliver integrated service solutions,” notes Moez Cherif, Task Team Leader of the program. “Through collateral-free financing, households can install solar power and significantly reduce their monthly electricity bills.”

The World Bank also noted that it has supported solar power in India for several years. “The World Bank has been supporting India’s solar rooftop sector for over a decade, mobilizing more than $2 billion to catalyze market growth from 500 MW to over 27 GW of installed capacity,” said Paul Proccee, World Bank Acting Country Director for India. “This new financing will help India scale up residential solar, while creating job opportunities across the supply chain and installation ecosystem.”

World Bank Support for Clean Energy in Pakistan

In a little more complicated of a program, the World Bank is also supporting clean energy growth in Pakistan.

“The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved US$375.9 million in financing for Pakistan’s Grid Stability Enhancement Project, to strengthen its national power transmission network under the Boosting Energy Security through Transmission in Pakistan (BEST-PAK) Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA). The Project is the first phase of a 10-year program  to help Pakistan modernize its electricity transmission network, reduce power outages, and bring more clean energy to homes, businesses, and industries,” the World Bank wrote yesterday.

This will help integrate a lot more wind energy, and also boost grid stability and resilience. “The project will install advanced equipment to stabilize the transmission grid and improve the flow of electricity at key substations. This includes Static Synchronous Compensators, or STATCOMs, at three major 500 kV substations, as well as fixed reactors and capacitor banks across 26 grid substations. These upgrades will help bring 640 MW of currently curtailed wind energy onto the grid, enabling the full use of 1,840 MW of wind capacity in southern Pakistan by moving power to major demand centers. They will also support the integration of approximately 491 MW of planned private sector-led renewable energy projects. Together, these improvements will help Pakistan move toward its national commitment of achieving 60 percent renewable energy in its electricity mix by 2030, in line with the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement. Over its lifetime, the project is expected to avoid approximately 832,500 tons of CO₂ emissions each year, or more than 20.8 million tons cumulatively over 25 years.”

60% renewable electricity by 2030! That beats India! (Come on, let’s make this a competition.)

“Pakistan’s energy challenges are deeply interconnected with its broader economic stability,” said Bolormaa Amgaabazar, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “By investing in advanced technologies for more resilient transmission infrastructure, this project will contribute to reducing electricity costs, bring more renewable energy onto the grid, and lay the groundwork for a power sector that works better for households, businesses and industries, as well as overall Pakistan’s economy.”

Indeed.

It’s nice to see the World Bank supporting clean energy like this. Much better than subsidizing more coal and fossil gas power plants!