Countries in Asia and the Pacific should use incentives and financing mechanisms to make the transition to solar power, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Haruhiko Kuroda.
“The Asia and Pacific region has the right combination of elements: demand for energy, access to sunlight and arid land, technological maturity, and a sound investment climate,” Kuroda said.
However, high investment costs and a high-risk perception of solar energy has been keeping solar energy investors away, according to Kuroda.
“As a result, there is a risk of a ‘solar divide’ where developing countries cannot receive the benefits of environmental technology despite its large potential”, he said.
ADB introduced the Asian Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI) earlier in the year, under which its aims to catalyse projects for about 3,000MW in solar power by 2013.
