A public-private initiative composed of experts in sustainable investment from governments, development finance institutions and the private sector — called the Lab — has picked a new class of investment vehicles to drive much-needed finance to low-carbon, climate-resilient global development out of over 100 ideas submitted into a competitive pool.

The nine new instruments would tackle persistent investment barriers in clean energy, low-carbon transit, and sustainable land use in developing countries, with a specific focus on Brazil and India.

For India, these include the Residential Rooftop Solar Accelerator, which aims to increase residential rooftop solar power in the country by leasing solar rooftop systems to households that do not have the required credit history to purchase them, and by leveraging data and technology to achieve scale and lower customer acquisition costs.

The other is financing for low-carbon auto-rickshaws and intends to increase sustainable transit in India by financing asset loans for low-carbon and electric auto-rickshaw drivers that leverage financial and digital technologies, such as real time information and payment systems.

The third, a long-term debt facility for traction batteries, aims to reduce the ownership cost of electric buses in India by generating additional revenue from repurposing traction batteries as energy storage batteries after the end of the traction period, which would maximise the use of the battery for another 5-10 years.

A fourth idea selected by the Global Lab is hoping to do a pilot in India — the pay-as-you-save for clean transport to accelerate clean transit in cities by lowering the upfront costs of electric buses via a pay-as-you-save mechanism.

Read more: http://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2018/02/23/financing-initiative-boost-renewables-sector/