ADB extends $20-M loan for energy efficiency projs

MANILA, Philippines - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $20-million loan to Cofely, a French energy services company, to help finance projects on energy efficiency.

The loan, to be formally signed next week, will finance energy efficiency projects in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Cofely general manager Raymond Marquez said of the $20 million, the Philippines would receive roughly $3-million retrofitting projects in hotels in Cebu and Manila.

The remaining amount of the loan would go to projects in Thailand and Malaysia.

One successful energy efficient project cited by the ADB is a centralized chilled water system put in place by Japanese manufacturing firm First Sumiden Circuit Inc. (FSCI).

In 2008, FSCI invested in a new chiller system as part of its cost-reduction program since airconditioning contributes around 20 to 30 percent of electricity costs.

In a briefing yesterday, Peter du Pont, vice-president for Nexant Asia and a consultant to the ADB, said investing in energy efficient projects such as FSCI’s chilled water system is putting good money to use.

He said the ADB would be interested in expanding the $20- million multi-currency loan for energy efficiency projects such as the centralized chilled water system.

The ADB invests more than $2.3 billion a year in clean energy projects. Most of the investments go into projects that utilize renewable energy technologies and measures.

Early this year, ADB initiated the Southeast Asia Energy Efficiency Project to support a model of energy services delivery in order to drive energy efficiency investment in the region.