News In Brief Nov 21: ADB, Solomon Islands & Tonga Sign Agreements, Scatec, Biden-Harris Administration Awards

ADB, Solomon Islands, Tonga Sign Agreements for Sustainable Energy Transition Projects at COP29

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the governments of Solomon Islands and Tonga have signed grant and loan agreements for energy projects on the sidelines of COP29. The ADB-supported projects will help the Pacific countries to transition from dependency on diesel fuel imports to renewable energy.

Solomon Islands Minister for the Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management, and Meteorology Trevor Mahaga and ADB Vice-President for East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Scott Morris signed a $10 million concessional loan agreement and a $5 million grant agreement, which will help fund the Solomon Islands Renewable Energy Development Project. The Saudi Fund for Development is cofinancing the project with an amount of $10 million.

Scatec Completes The Kalkbult, Linde, and Dreunberg Transaction in South Africa

Scatec ASA, a leading renewable energy provider, has closed the second and final phase of the previously announced sale of parts of its ownership in the Kalkbult, Linde and Dreunberg solar power plants to Greenstreet 1 Proprietary Limited, a subsidiary of STANLIB Infrastructure Fund II, managed by STANLIB Asset Management Proprietary Limited (STANLIB).

Scatec received ZAR 433 million (USD 24 million) in gross proceeds for its ownership sold in the second phase and has in total received ZAR 921 million (USD 51 million) for the total share sold to STANLIB. The net interest-bearing debt related to the power plants was ZAR 939 million (USD 52 million) at the end of the second quarter 2024, amounting to a transaction enterprise value of approximately ZAR 1.86 billion (USD 103 million) and an enterprise value per MW of USD 1.6 million.

Biden-Harris Administration Awards Up to $2.2 Billion For Two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced up to $2.2 billion in award commitments for two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) that will help accelerate the commercial-scale deployment of low-cost, clean hydrogen—a valuable energy product that can be produced with zero or near-zero carbon emissions.

The two awardees—Gulf Coast H2Hub and Midwest H2Hub—are critical pillars of DOE’s H2Hubs program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to kickstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure while supporting the production, storage, delivery, and end-use of clean hydrogen.