About ETAF
ETAF’s journey started with the long-standing collaboration between IRENA and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), initiating a partnership in 2013 to deploy resources to finance renewable energy (RE) projects in developing countries. Between 2013 and 2020, the IRENA/ADFD Facility made funding available for 26 renewable energy projects in 21 developing countries, benefiting over 4 million people through socio-economic improvements and enhanced climate resilience.
Building on the success of this first initiative, the UAE announced its support for IRENA’s multi-stakeholder platform, the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) platform, anchored with a pledge of USD 400 million provided via ADFD. This commitment was further bolstered at COP27 with additional pledges: USD 300 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), USD 200 million from Masdar, and de-risking services from Swiss Re, elevating the platform's total capital allocation to almost USD 1 billion. Thus, ADFD, AIIB, Masdar and Swiss Re became ETAF Founding Partners of ETAF.
In the summer of 2023, the OPEC Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) came on board as financing partners, pledging USD 250 million and USD 100 million respectively towards renewable energy projects. At COP28, ETAF signaled strong momentum with the addition of seven new partners, significantly enhancing its financing and operational capability:
- Emirates Development Bank (EDB): Pledged USD 350 million.
- Islamic Development Bank (IsDB): Pledged USD 250 million.
- International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ICIEC): Offered de-risking services.
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): Pledged USD 1 billion.
- International Finance Corporation (IFC): Pledged USD 1 billion.
- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA): Provided de-risking services.
- HSBC: Pledged USD 200 million.
These contributions have propelled ETAF’s total capital mobilization to USD 4 billion, quadrupling its original goal and reinforcing the platform's role in promoting renewable energy projects in developing countries.
IRENA, as the coordinating secretariat, ensures the smooth operation of the ETAF platform, managing the entire project journey from submission to the delivery of final recommendations to our partners. This includes a detailed evaluation of each proposal against a set of eligibility criteria, prioritizing projects that can deliver significant socio-economic and environmental impacts.
Our Goal
- Facilitating ETAF’s funding partners' capital mobilisation to scale the financing of renewable energy technologies to 5 GW by 2030.
- Supporting the implementation of ambitious National Determined Contributions (NDCs) to meet the Paris Agreement targets (addressing mitigation, adaptation and climate resilience). Contribute to the realisation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while serving strategic national objectives such as energy access and security, economic diversification and sustainable impact.
Strategy
- Building and channelling a robust pipeline of investment-ready projects from IRENA's member countries, with a keen focus on developing countries.
- Facilitating the funding of renewable energy projects, subject to ETAF’s Funding Partners’ due diligence and credit approval processes.
- Capitalising on the complementarities of the Funding Partners, resulting in innovative financial solutions to scale up renewable energy technologies.