Andrew
South Africa and Indonesia will receive a combined US$1 billion from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) to replace some of their coal-fired power plants with renewable energy facilities, part of global efforts to cut planet-warming emissions.
The allocation of US$500 million each to the coal-dependent countries will come in the form of “concessional” or low-cost finance, the World Bank-affiliated fund said in a statement on Thursday. In South Africa, the money will be used to close coal-fired electricity stations and replace them with renewable energy plants and battery storage systems, it said.
In Indonesia, CIF will work with state power provider PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara and private companies to accelerate the closure of 2 000 megawatts of coal-fired generation in five to 10 years and explore how that capacity can be replaced.
South Africa is the world’s 13th biggest producer of greenhouse gases, with 45 percent of its annual 452 million tonnes of emissions coming from electricity generation.
Indonesia is the 10th biggest emitter.
Almost all of South Africa’s energy is produced from coal. — Bloomberg
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