Public Bank Energy Investment

Investment and grants in clean energy from international development banks and organisations reached $8.3bn in 2007, rising from $6bn in 2006. This number looks set to continue increasing in the coming years.

The top investor in 2007 was the European Investment Bank (EIB) ($3.2bn), followed by the World Bank ($1.43bn), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ($1.21bn) and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the US Department of Energy ($0.91bn).

These top 4 lenders accounted for 81% of the clean energy investment from development organisations in 2007 (a total of 32 institutions were analysed).

Other notable clean energy investors in this sector include the African Development Bank ($0.38bn), the Development Bank of Japan ($0.35bn), the Nordic Investment Bank ($0.28bn), the Asian Development Bank ($0.22bn) and the Global Environment Facility ($0.17bn). However, the European Investment Bank stands out with renewable energy commitments of $3.2bn in 2007, which alone accounts for 39% of total clean energy investment by international development organisations.

Each organisation’s clean energy investment can be split into two broad areas: energy efficiency and renewable energy (excl. large hydro > 50 MW). In general, renewable energies received more funding, except in the case of the EBRD, where energy efficiency lending was 89% ($1.08bn) of total investment. This was a result of increased efforts to bring the efficiency of conventional power plants in Eastern Europe in line with EU environmental standards, as well as large investment in industrial efficiency, including the modernisation of steel plants ($75m), cement facilities ($28m) and glass factories($42.5m) in Russia and the Ukraine.