ADB’s top 10 things in Asia Clean Energy development

Screenshot from IRENA's Report

Francisco Rojas 17 Jun 2015

1. The explosive growth in clean energy investment worldwide: $55 billion in 2006 to $214 billion dollars in 2013, with nearly half of that – $106 billion – invested in Asia and the Pacific.
   Sources: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. 2014. The First Decade: 2004-2014 – 10 Years of Renewable Energy Progress.
   Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre/BNEF. 2015. Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015.
2. For the first time, incentives like Feed-in-Tariffs, Renewable Portfolio Standards, concessional loans for clean energy projects, and other mechanisms were used by governments and financial institutions to support clean energy development in the region.
   Source: ADB database
3. Grid parity is a reality for the major renewables. With the expansion of wind power and the use of more efficient turbines, on-shore wind is now competitive with fossil fuels in a number of countries. As global manufacturing capacity in solar photovoltaic (PV) doubles, costs fall by 20%. True grid parity is on the horizon.
   Source: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. 2014. The First Decade: 2004-2014 – 10 Years of Renewable Energy Progress.
4. The growth installed capacity for solar PV by 2014 was 177 gigawatts from 5.1 gigawatts installed in 2006,  or a growth rate above 3000%.
   Source:  International Energy Agency. 2015. Snapshot of Global PV Markets 2014.
5. The growth installed capacity for wind power was 59 gigawatts in 2006 and 369 gigawatts in 2014, with 142 gigawatts installed in Asia and the Pacific.
   Source: Global Wind Energy Council. 2015. Global Wind Statistics 2014.
6. Increased electrification in developing Asia: more than 300 million people were connected to electricity over the past decade, ending their dependency on kerosene, firewood, and charcoal.
   Source: International Energy Agency. 2006. World Energy Outlook 2006.
7. The number of countries with clean energy policies in developing Asia increased. In 2006, only a handful of countries had renewable energy policies. Today 23 countries in the region have clean energy policies in place.
   Source: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. 2014. The First Decade: 2004-2014 – 10 Years of Renewable Energy Progress.
8. An estimated 4.7 million jobs were added to the clean energy sector in 2014 from 3 million in 2006. These include jobs for engineers and scientists, and construction and installation work. More than 4 million of these jobs are in Asia and the Pacific.
   Source: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2015.
9. ADB has increased its lending on clean energy to over $2.4 billion in 2014 from about $650 million in 2006. ADB is the largest lender for clean energy in the region.
   Source: ADB database
10. ADB has evolved, integrating clean energy priorities into its strategy and policies, increasing its knowledge of clean energy and pool of experts, and opening the Asia Clean Energy Forum to all sectors – government, energy, finance, entrepreneurs, and civil society – in order to build Asia’s clean energy future together.

Source: Article in the ADB