Shea announces $20 mn solar & renewable energy fund

Shea announces $20 mn solar & renewable energy fund

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea announced Friday the launch of a $20 million Solar & Renewable Energy Fund at an event in the presence of Minister of Industry George Bouchikian, Minister of Energy and Water Dr Walid Fayad, Minister of Environment Dr Nasser Yassin, USAID Lebanon Acting Mission Director Nicholas Vivio, investors, and local enterprises.

The fund, created by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) Activity and Lebanon Investment Initiative (LII), will unlock private sector investments to finance the cost of solar panel installations for Lebanese entities, the U.S. embassy in Lebanon said.

“This fund is not our first intervention in response to Lebanon’s energy crisis, and it will not be the last. Since 2012, the United States Government, through USAID, has been providing affordable and renewable back-up electricity to homes and businesses,” said Shea.

“We are confident that Lebanese businesses and investors will see this opportunity as a chance to capitalize on the energy fund to support Lebanon’s economy, the viability of domestic businesses, the jobs of hundreds of Lebanese, and their belief in a cleaner and more productive tomorrow,” she added.

“This fund is the first seed to help catalyze clean