BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 15. Improving energy efficiency and implementing climate change mitigation strategies are crucial to ensuring sustainable development of Central Asian economies, the Director General for Global Practices and Partnerships of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Issa Faye said during a high-level panel discussion on regional cooperation to increase investment and financing for energy transition in Central Asia, Trend reports.
“The renewable energy sector in the region is important as there is significant potential for solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and other sources. This creates significant opportunities for the transition to cleaner and renewable energy sources,” he said.
He emphasized that despite this, the bank believes several aspects need more attention to benefit from regional integration.
"First, it is critical to ensure that there is strong political
will as well as coherent energy policies and governance frameworks
across the region to incentivize energy efficiency and the
transition to renewable energy," Issa Faye noted.
He further highlighted that collecting data on the state of
renewable energy across the region, as well as identifying
opportunities and challenges for investment in this area, are
essential to making informed decisions to improve the renewable
energy ecosystem, which will accelerate the energy transition.
“Third, promoting cross-border energy trade among Central Asian countries with neighboring regions is important. This is important to promote regional economic integration and regional connectivity, which will reduce the cost of energy production for countries in the region. By utilizing interconnected power transmission infrastructures such as the Casa 1000 transmission lines linking different countries in the region, we will be able to significantly reduce operating costs, cutting them by $6.4 billion over the next ten years,” he added.
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