Abu Dhabi Fund completes $31.9mn worth renewable energy projects in 5 countries

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has completed five renewable energy projects valued at $31.9 million (AED 117.3 million) in five partner countries.

The fund which is Abu Dhabi’s leading national entity that supports sustainable economic development at home and abroad stated that the ventures were completed in Cuba, Somaliland, the Bahamas, Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic. The renewable energy projects have helped those countries to cut their carbon emissions by infusing a total of 14.38MW into the energy mix.

“We doubled our effort to ensure that we delivered the projects to our partner countries, especially during such a time of crisis. The aim was to help them maintain their economic and social development trajectories by enabling them to meet developmental challenges during the pandemic. Renewable projects remain high on our agenda as their impact is felt on multiple levels, from commerce to the environment.”

The fund allocated $169 million (Dh622 million) to finance various projects across the globe last year including loan agreements worth $33 million (Dh121m) with the West African nations of Togo, Niger, and Liberia. The deals include a $10 million solar project in Niger, an $8 million mini-hydro project in Liberia, and a $15 million project in Togo.

Further, ADFD revealed an allocation of $94 million (Dh384 million) to execute eight renewable energy initiatives under the seventh cycle of its cooperation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

According to ADFD, eight projects will be financed under the facility in Antigua and Barbuda, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cuba, the Maldives, Nepal, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In July, it funded a waste-to-energy project in the Maldives.

The fund also finances projects in 16 Caribbean countries via its $50 million UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund (UAE-CREF). Launched in 2017, the UAE-CREF is the largest renewable energy initiative of its kind in the Caribbean region.