A solar plant in Nigeria and an Azerbaijan wind farm are among the 55 projects that have received financing worth $1.7 billion from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development in 2023.

This is in line with the multilateral development finance institution’s Climate Action Plan, support for renewable energy projects constituted nearly 60 per cent of all lending in the energy sector, according to a press release.

The Opec Fund Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, said, “In 2023, the OPEC Fund increased its impact through the delivery of development support in a challenging global environment. We grew our lending programme across the board in response to strong demand by our partner countries and thanks to our success in raising additional funds from the capital markets.

We were also able to leverage our partnerships to mobilize development support by working with multilateral development banks and development finance institutions such as the Arab Coordination Group. And we are well on track with our 2030 target to commit 40 per cent of all new financing to climate action.”

The fund supported a $25 million solar plant in Niger, a $50 million 240-megawatt wind farm in Azerbaijan, and contributed $40 million to two wind power plants, totaling 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity in Uzbekistan.

The OPEC Fund’s investments in the energy sector included projects dedicated to enhancing energy security in Tanzania and Bangladesh, aligning with the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 7 ensuring clean and affordable energy access.

Additionally, the allocated capital aimed to tackle pressing issues such as climate change, social and economic resilience, and sustainable growth.

Source: Times of Oman