UK commits $250 million; France, Netherlands pledge $120 million to World Bank initiatives on energy storage, solar power and clean cooking

The United Kingdom pledged £200 million ($250 million) to the Climate Investment Funds’ Global Energy Storage Program, which in collaboration with the World Bank’s Energy Storage Partnership aims to deliver breakthrough energy storage and renewable energy solutions at scale.

France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Netherlands pledged $100 million to the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI), with the Netherlands also announcing $20 million for the Bank’s planned Clean Cooking Fund.

The UK’s contribution supports the World Bank Group’s goal of mobilizing $1 billion in concessional climate funds for a global program on energy storage, alongside its own commitment of $1 billion, announced at the One Planet Summit in September 2018.

The program is expected to help middle-income and developing countries increase their use of renewables, particularly wind and solar power, improve energy security, increase grid stability and expand access to electricity. It also aims to finance 17.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage by 2025 – more than triple the 4-5 GWh currently installed in all developing countries.

The pledges from France and the Netherlands, as part of SRMI, will provide support to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, which have some of the world’s largest gaps in electricity access, as they scale up their off-grid and grid-connected solar energy programs.

The Netherlands’ support for the World Bank’s planned $500 million Clean Cooking Fund under the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) will help accelerate progress toward universal access to clean cooking by 2030. Denmark announced that it would double its contribution to ESMAP to DK 90 million ($13 million), with a focus on clean cooking. Norway and the United Kingdom also pledged their support.

Original source: World Bank
Published on 23 September 2019