Financed: 90 Renewable Energy Projects
Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), one of the leading financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been supporting the country’s effort towards driving energy transition at home and around the world by financing innovative renewable-energy projects.
As reported, the fund has consistently increased its portfolio of such undertakings. By now, it has funded 90 projects over a decade at a total value of about 4.7 billion Dirham (converted 1.28 billion US-Dollar). Cumulatively generating 9,755 MW (megawatts) of electricity, these projects benefited 65 countries. “Such initiatives form the core of development, and the UAE realized that years ago, which prompted it to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA),” the Director General of the Fund, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, was cited.
In 2013, ADFD, in collaboration with IRENA, launched an initiative with a commitment of – converted – 350 million US-Dollar to support renewable energy projects in developing countries. Since then, the initiative led to the production of about 208 MW of clean energy through 32 projects in 26 countries.
In the same year, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation launched the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund, intending to step up the UAE’s development cooperation with the Pacific island countries across different sectors. The scheme supported renewable energy projects through allocating grants with a total value of – converted – 50 million US-Dollar, financed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and implemented by Masdar. The initiative included ten solar photovoltaic (PV) projects and one wind farm, which collectively produces a total of 5.7 MW energy, thus meeting most of the islands’ energy needs.
The UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund, with a value of 50 million US-Dollar was launched to deliver renewable energy projects across 16 Caribbean island nations to help reduce reliance on fossil-fuel imports, increase energy access and enhance climate change resilience. The fund is a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MoFAIC), ADFD and Masdar.
Examples of projects financed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development include undertakings about waste as well:
- A waste-to-energy plant project in Maldives, for which ADFD provided a concessional loan of – converted – six million US-Dollar in 2015, aimed to address the country’s waste management and energy challenges. The project, covering three Islands of Vandhoo, Addu and Kulhudhuffushi, recently received a attestation from the Global Innovation Institute (GINI), a leading international professional certification, accreditation and membership association in the field of innovation.
- Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has also contributed 33 million US-Dollar towards developing a 30 MW waste-to-energy facility in Sharjah (UAE). The project is the second of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region and will be the flagship project of the Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Masdar and Bee’ah. The facility is being built to help Sharjah achieve its zero-waste-to-landfill target and the UAE’s objective of diverting 75 percent of municipal waste from landfills this year.
(Published in GLOBAL RECYCLING Magazine 1/2021, Page 12, Photo: Drpixel / stock.adobe.com)
