Renewable energy financing - what can we learn from experience in developing countries?

Renewable energy (RE) has been considered as one of the stronger contenders to improve the plight of nearly two billion people, mostly in rural areas, without access to modern forms of energy . Although the economics of renewable energy technologies (RETs) have yet to reach a stage where these could replace fossil fuels on a significant scale, many experts argue that technologies such as solar, wind, and small-scale hydropower are not only economically viable but also ideal for rural areas. The mismatch between the potential and actual use of RE ca n be attributed to barriers in its implementation . Among others , a lack of financing has been one of the important barriers adversely affecting the widespread use of RETs. In developing countries , a majority of initiatives have focused on financial incentives. The re are successes as well as failures from the models adopted. The paper discusses problems related to financing RETs, by focusing on small-scale off-grid RETs in developing countries , and reviews some of these model s to bring out the lesson s that we can learn to accelerate the availability of finance to RETs