Surge of money in energy sector

THE Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (ireda), the financing arm of the Union ministry of nonconventional energy sources, is finalising a US$ 100 million assistance package from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (adb). This follows a technical assistance study initiated by adb in August 1994 at a cost US$ 354,000.

The loan is targeted primarily at 3 sectors: bagasse-based cogeneration, methane recovery from distilleries and industrial wastes, and solar thermal systems for which about $50 million is to be earmarked. A similar amount is to be set aside for wind energy.

The loan will augment ireda's finances from external sources by about 50 per cent. The organisation is already receiving a World Bank-Global Environment Facility line of credit to the tune of US$ 195 million for 1993-98 to create a power generation capacity of 187.5 mw. Says ireda managing director V Bakthavatsalam, "The adb line of credit is yet another assertion of the buoyancy of the renewable energy sector in India."