World Bank awards $1.5 billion loan for India’s energy transformation

“India has taken bold steps to develop a domestic green hydrogen market, supported by rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity,” said Aurélien Kruse, Xiaodong Wang and Surbhi Goyal, leaders of the World Bank’s financing operation. “This operation is helping to scale up investment in green hydrogen and renewable energy infrastructure.”

Financing for the project includes a $1.46 billion loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a $31.5 million credit line from the International Development Association (IDA), two components of the World Bank. The project aims to help India reduce annual harmful emissions by 50 million tons.

Last week, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) announced a new tender for 400 MW of wind-solar hybrid projects in India. This follows a similar tender for 1.2 GW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected capacity announced in June, as the government looks to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix.

An Ernst & Young report ranked India as the seventh most attractive market for new renewable energy projects globally, with clean energy now accounting for about a third of the country’s total installed power capacity. However, in fiscal year 2023-24, renewable energy accounted for more than 70% of new installed electricity generation capacity, suggesting that waves of new clean energy bids are starting to rebalance the country’s energy mix.