ISA plans bank to fund energy access

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) will propose the creation of a bank exclusively to finance energy access. Whoever said it was ISA director Upendra Tripathy at the inaugural session of an event on the state of renewable energy.

The bank is still at the idealization stage but ISA has already asked the Asian Development Bank to prepare a concept note and plans to present the project at the next General Assembly, scheduled for September - October 2019.

A public-private partnership is being thought of for the proposed, which will work for 1.2 billion people who lack access to energy as well as the 2.4 billion who lack access to clean energy.

Tripathy highlighted this is a market with great potential, according to a recent World Bank report, 600 million people would continue to have no access to energy even in 2040. Therefore, the bank will need to prioritize these groups and develop a mechanism to work towards this.

Unlike existing banks not focus on universal energy access, the new bank intends to develop special financing tools in order to reach those still deprived which are the poorest of the poor.

Thus the bank will primary target energy access and then focus on clean energy