SOLAR power in Asia and the Pacific could increase sixfold to 3,000 megawatts (MW) by mid-2013 through the solar projects launched recently by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In a statement, the ADB said its large-scale solar projects were included in the Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI). Before the ASEI, the bank said the region produced less than 500 MW only of solar power from installed plants.
The ADB said this capacity is expected to reach 1,000 MW by the end of next year and 3,000 MW by the end of the ASEI’s third year in May 2013.
The ASEI is also responsible for the creation of the Asia Solar Energy Forum (ASEF). This is a major component of the ASEI, which is the premier platform for sharing solar-energy knowledge, tracking solar-development projects, and discussing new solar power proposals and incentive mechanisms.
The ASEI also includes the Asia Accelerated Solar Energy Development Fund, which will “buy down” the high upfront costs of solar-energy development to help encourage private investment in the sector.
In his opening statement at the second meeting of the ASEF in Tokyo, Haruhiko Kuroda, ADB president, said governments in Asia and the Pacific region should invest in solar energy to help ensure that their future growth is environmentally sustainable.
Kuroda said that with Asia’s and the Pacific’s high economic growth rates, population growth, and current and projected energy-demand gap would provide a huge market opportunity and potential for solar-energy development.
“Asian countries will need to aim to maintain economic progress and improve energy security, while simultaneously charting a new low-carbon development path,” Kuroda said.
The forum coincides with the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (COP16) talks in Mexico, where delegates from around the world are looking for ways to reconcile the challenges of economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Kuroda said Asia’s and the Pacific’s embrace of renewable technologies, such as solar energy, should benefit from finance and technology transfers from developed countries, irrespective of the formal outcome of the COP-16 negotiations.
Earlier, David S. Macauley, ADB principal climate-change specialist, said the ADB and the Aquino administration were in the process of creating a $1- billion long-term financing to fund public and private renewable-energy projects and programs.
In a roundtable discussion with reporters, McCauley said the long-term financing will be used for a period of 10 years for various renewable-energy projects.
The first tranche will involve $400 million for public and private solar-energy development projects and programs. He said this will be included in the Country Program Strategy of the bank with the government in the next three years.
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