The World Bank said on Friday it would lend China $87 million to help expand the supply of renewable electricity in Asia's economic powerhouse and giant energy consumer. "China's abundant undeveloped resources of small hydropower, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar energy ... could help the country reduce some of the environmental damage from its overwhelming dependence on coal for large-scale, grid-based power generation," the global lender said.
The World Bank said the funds would support Beijing's efforts to create a more competitive power market, to give producers access to better technology and to scale-up the capacity of existing renewal energy projects.
Goals of the project include boosting China's production of renewable electricity and reducing carbon and other particulate emissions, the Washington-based development institution said.
The World bank funds will be supplemented by a $40 million grant from the Global Environment Facility, a group that funds environmental projects in the developing world.