ADB eyes financing for energy-efficient government buildings

MANILA, Philippines —  ADB eyes financing for energy-efficient gov’t buildings The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is looking to provide a loan for a project in the Philippines aimed at promoting energy efficiency in government buildings.

In a press briefing, ADB director for energy Keiju Mitsuhashi said the multilateral lender is in discussions with the Department of Energy (DOE) for the project.

“I hope this project will soon materialize or the financing will soon materialize,” he said.

Under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, the government aims to promote energy efficiency in public buildings.

However, the lack of funds poses a challenge to the Philippine government’s efforts to promote energy efficiency.

Mitsuhashi said that the project can serve as a building block to further enhance or scale up energy efficiency measures in the country.

He said the ADB is also working with the DOE on an initiative to derisk the early stage of geothermal projects.

By partially taking the risk at the early stage of project development, the government aims to accelerate efforts to shift to renewable energy.

Mitsuhashi also said  the ADB is open to supporting the Philippines in other initiatives in the energy sector, if needed.

“If the DOE thinks that there are important investments or intervention required from the government side, then they might be looking at public sector financing. And these are the opportunities that, if there’s a request and then a need, we may be interested,” he said.

ADB is supporting initiatives to increase access to low-carbon energy as part of efforts to reduce poverty and promote development in Asia-Pacific.