Regional Guidance from the PRIF

The Pacific Renewable Energy Investment Facility (PREIF) is designed to finance a series of renewable energy projects in the 11 small Pacific island countries (PIC-11) and was approved in June 2017.1 The PIC-11 comprises the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The facility finances renewable energy projects in the PIC-11 with an overall estimated cost of $750 million, comprising (i) up to $200 million in Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing, (ii) an estimated $500 million from co-financing sources, and (iii) an estimated $50 million from government counterpart financing. ADB’s financing is composed of, indicatively: (i) $80 million from its Special Funds resources (Asian Development Fund [ADF] grants), (ii) $110 million from concessional ordinary capital resources lending (COL), and (iii) $10 million from regular ordinary capital resources. The facility is innovative in that it allows ADB to process a number of small-value projects in the PIC-11 faster and with lower transaction costs.