Commercial, Distributed Energy Resources, GHG Emissions, Solar  -  November 8, 2022

Bloomberg, Goldman Make Sustainable Investments in Asia 

The Bloomberg Philanthropies and Goldman Sachs-backed Climate Innovation and Development Fund completed its first set of blended-finance investments focused on innovation across the sustainable transport sector in each of India and Vietnam.  

“Creative solutions like blended-finance facilities can mobilize the capital needed to advance sustainability,” said David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, in a statement. “By encouraging more private capital to support projects like these, the Climate Innovation and Development Fund will accelerate the decarbonization of mass transportation in India and Southeast Asia and make further progress in the journey of climate transition.”

These initial investments are the first ones of the Fund’s potential to unlock up to $500 million in private sector and governmental investments in support of sustainable low-carbon economic development with a focus on South and Southeast Asia.

“Switching to clean power and electric transportation can bring enormous benefits to developing countries but up-front costs often stand in the way,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “This initiative brings people together to unlock capital and jump-start more projects that will cut emissions, improve public health, spur economic growth, and create jobs. We’re looking forward to working with partners at the Asian Development Bank and Goldman Sachs on these initial projects in India and Vietnam.”

In India, the Fund’s investment will mobilize approximately 14 times its investment capital to support the purchase of 255 electric buses to replace existing diesel buses operating on 56 high traffic intercity routes across cities, including Delhi and Pune, and the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. The e-buses are expected to serve five million people per year and the Fund will support the construction of charging infrastructure including solar-plus-battery solutions at the bus depots to maximize potential emission reductions. T

In Vietnam, the Fund’s investment will mobilize 44 times its investment capital to support the country’s first electric bus fleet for public transport and the first national EV charging network. The project aims to build up to 140 e-buses and 150,000 charging ports across 2,000-3,000 stations throughout the country. The Fund’s initial investment will provide capital expenditure related to installing solar-plus-battery storage at bus depots to enable the fleet to use renewable power sources, rather than sourcing power from the grid. 

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