Obama Administration Announces New Financing For Renewable Energy Projects And Actions To Spur Innovation And Promote Energy Access Globally
November 15, 2016 -- From 2010-2015 alone, the U.S. has invested in more than $11 billion in international clean energy finance - including grant-based assistance, development finance, and export credit - to support countries as they work to meet their growing energy needs, while improving development outcomes and reducing carbon emissions. At the same time, the United States has made research and development a top priority, decreasing the cost of clean energy technologies substantially, and has launched several initiatives to enhance universal access to affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy globally. Key achievements include:
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Establishing Mission Innovation (MI), with the leaders of 19 countries, to accelerate innovation by doubling public investment in clean energy research and development to $30 billion over five years.
- Launching the Power Africa initiative with the goal of doubling energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, the U.S. Government's pledge to commit more than $7 billion in financial support for Power Africa has leveraged more than $52 billion in additional commitments from public and private sector partners. Power Africa has already helped bring renewable energy projects to financial close that are expected to generate 2,000 megawatts (MW) from biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower.
- Creating the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), which the U.S. has used to rally governments, industry, and organizations to commit more than $1.5 billion to accelerate the deployment of clean energy globally.
- Since 2010, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation has committed over $7.7 billion towards clean energy projects in 40 countries with a total potential capacity of approximately 3,400 megawatts, including support for 18 off-grid energy projects providers.
Through the three pillars of finance, innovation, and access the United States has opened up opportunities for countries to transition to cleaner sources of energy faster and at a lower cost, paving the way for the achievement of nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. In fact, last year, the world hit a key milestone -global investment in renewable energy was the highest ever, and, for the first time, more than half of the world's new electric capacity came from renewable energy sources.
Today (11/14), the Obama Administration is announcing a number of actions to continue the global transition to zero-and-low carbon energy sources, including:
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Committing $125 million in OPIC financing for renewable energy projects in El Salvador and India;
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Announcing seven Innovation Challenges identified by MI member countries that highlight clean energy areas with the potential to play a significant to achieve deep-decarbonization;
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Creating a partnership between USAID, the Department of State with the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to identify a pipeline of clean energy entrepreneurs in developing countries;
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Providing $4 million in awards to eight household solar firms under thePower Africa Scaling Off Grid Grand Challenge -- a $36 million investment to empower entrepreneurs and investors to connect 20 million households in sub-Saharan Africa to modern, clean, and affordable electricity;
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Releasing a White House report on the state of the market for access to off-grid energy services and efficient appliances;
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Announcing more than $11 million raised, in partnership with other governments and development partners, for the deployment of efficient off-grid technologies globally through the Efficiency for Access (E4A) Coalition;
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Launching a partnership with the philanthropic sector to bring more efficient appliances torural Indian villages; and
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Supporting the first Solar Decathlon competition in Africa that creates opportunities for university students to learn about and showcase solar energy technologies.
PROVIDING NEW FINANCING FOR RENEWABLE ENEGY PROJECTS GLOBALLY
Committing New Financing for Renewable Energy Projects. Today (11/14), OPIC is announcing $125 million in financing commitments to bring renewable energy to El Salvador and India, including:
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$50M towards a series of eight utility-scale solar PV projects in El Salvador.These projects will help El Salvador strengthen its energy security by diversifying its energy mix and helping the country move away from heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels.
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$75M for a utility-scale PV project in the Indian state of Telangana sponsored by ReNew Power Ventures.This commitment represents the rapid mobilization of financing under a $250 million facility to support up to 400 MW of new solar power projects in India across multiple states.
Launching the United States-India Clean Energy Finance facility: This week, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Government's development finance institution, and the Government of India will formally launch a $20 million distributed solar facility in partnership with leading philanthropies and the Government of India. Known as the U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance program (USICEF), the facility will address a key financing gap in the Indian distributed solar market by funding early-stage project preparatory work. USICEF is anticipated to unlock up to $400 million in long-term debt financing from OPIC and private sector investors.
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