UZB: Uzbekistan has tremendous potential to generate clean energy through its abundant solar and wind resources, and ADB’s financing plays a part in Uzbekistan’s journey that cuts across teams and expertise towards a carbon neutral economy. ADB strives to promote an enabling environment through six transformative renewable projects, contributing to energy supply and affordability As Asia’s climate bank, ADB has increased its climate financing targets to promote meaningful decarbonization and expansion of renewables in the energy sector. Our participation in 4 solar and 2 wind projects will co-finance 2GW of new renewable capacity, help to crowd-in significant equity capital from credible sponsors and mobilize institutional capital that will serve as a vote of confidence for future projects in Uzbekistan’s renewables sector.

IND: Biomass energy can be a unique solution to tackle climate change in the developing countries especially where agriculture plays important roles in their economies. ADB’s financing for SEAL Biomass Energy Projects in India will have a powerful demonstration effect for biomass power by helping reduce risk perceptions and by creating awareness of its benefits and potential for use in other rural communities and developing member countries. The project entails development of five 14.9 MW biomass power plants, 74.9 MW in total, in the state of Rajasthan in India. Agricultural residues purchased from local farmers will be used for power generations for the project. Biomass power plants can operate on a firm, reliable and dispatchable basis, providing a direct substitute for baseload generation using fossil fuels. It also helps increase income of local farmers through sales of agricultural residue as feedstock, and reduce burning of agricultural waste, contributing to improvement of air quality.

LAO: Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific face shortfalls in climate investments that are needed to clear a pathway to green growth. The syndication of development and commercial financing for the Monsoon Wind project bridges this gap by mobilizing private capital to develop wind resources which are translated into clean power generation that can spur economic and social advancement in the region. The project entails a wind power project with a contracted capacity of 600 MW to be constructed in the Lao PDR that will export and sell electricity into neighboring Viet Nam. It will be the first wind power project in the Lao PDR, the largest in Southeast Asia, and the first cross-border in Asia. The project will provide a substantial source of clean renewable energy supply to Viet Nam to help meet the country’s growing demand for energy. The project will also help unlock the Lao PDR’s significant untapped wind resource potential and provide social and economic benefits to the country in the form of employment, improved infrastructure, increased regional connectivity, and revenues through collection of royalties, lease payments, and taxes.

VIE: Decarbonizing the transport sector will be critical to reach net zero, and boosting the electrification of transport is widely seen as a key pillar to achieve this goal. To promote the scaling up of electric mobility in Viet Nam, ADB led a $135 million climate financing package for VinFast, Viet Nam’s first domestic car company and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, to support Viet Nam’s first electric public transport bus fleet and first national EV charging network. The transaction is a certified climate loan under the Climate Bonds Initiative. This ADB-led syndication is the first direct development finance institution loan for Vingroup. This helped VinFast and Vingroup broaden its lender relationships with development finance institutions and obtain longer-tenor US dollar financing (7 years) than what it can achieve from commercial lenders (5 years). ADB mobilized blended concessional finance with a more back-ended repayment profile, which will give VinFast greater flexibility in managing its liquidity and refinancing risk and support its expansion into e-vehicles. The transaction also demonstrated OneADB collaboration (PSOD and SERD) in implementing technical assistance (TA) of $950,000 from the ACFP and the CTF to raise consumer awareness about e-mobility’s economic, environmental, and social impacts to help advance its market penetration. The TA will also help promote the role of women studying for or working in fields related to science, technology, and mathematics.