A finance tool to shut down Asian coal plants up to a decade early will swing into action “soon”, says Asian Development Bank climate envoy
A new financing tool that allows Asian governments to force coal plants into early retirement is set to launch its first project in Indonesia “soon” following months of negotiations, the Asia Development Bank’s (ADB) climate envoy said on Friday.
The ADB’s “energy transition mechanism” (ETM) makes use of private and public capital to refinance investments in coal-fired power, allowing power purchase agreements to be shortened and plants to be shut as much as a decade earlier than planned.
ADB’s senior climate advisor Warren Evans said negotiations on the Cirebon One project in Indonesia were now on schedule, and talks were also underway to launch similar projects in the Philippines and Vietnam.
“This is the first that has ever been done, so there are a lot of challenges and uncertainties to be resolved, but the negotiations are proceeding and we expect this to go forward soon,” he told Reuters.
“If we are successful across the countries we are having discussions with right now – if we are successful in reducing the lives of 50% of coal-fired power plants – this will be the largest decarbo
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