World Bank approves $1.5B for India's low-carbon energy sector

02 Jul 2024 CW Team

On June 29, the World Bank approved $ 1.5 billion in financing to advance India's development of low-carbon energy. This funding aims to promote low-carbon energy by enhancing renewable energy, developing green hydrogen, and stimulating climate finance for low-carbon energy investments, according to a World Bank blog post.

In addition to this second phase of financing, the World Bank had previously approved the $ 1.5 billion First Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation in June 2023. This initial funding supported the waiver of transmission charges for renewable energy in green hydrogen projects.

Efforts with this new financing will focus on boosting the market capability for green hydrogen, scaling up renewable energy, and stimulating finance for low-carbon energy investments. The second Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation will support reforms to increase the production of green hydrogen and electrolyzers, crucial technology for green hydrogen production. It will also back reforms to increase renewable energy penetration by incentivizing battery energy storage solutions and amending the Indian Electricity Grid Code to improve renewable energy integration into the grid.

The World Finance Organisation emphasized the importance of separating India's economic growth from emission growth, noting that this decoupling will require scaling up renewable energy, particularly in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. It stated that India will need to expand green hydrogen production and consumption, along with accelerating the development of climate finance to boost low-carbon investments. The supported reforms are expected to produce at least 450,000 metric tons of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolyzers annually from the financial year 2025-26 onwards.

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