Winrock International India enters into strategic alliance with Rabo India on Carbon Advisory Business

On February 13, 2003, Winrock International India (WII) signed an MOU with Rabo India to act as a CDM specialist to Rabo's Carbon Advisory business under which Rabo will arrange the sale of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from renewable energy projects in India to the Dutch government.

Both WII and Rabo India aim to develop strategic opportunities for Indian organizations /institutions /companies overseas to achieve world-class efficiencies in India’s renewable energy sector and promote public-private partnerships. Entities in India that undertake projects which result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions lower than typical projects implemented in absence of the CDM market, are permitted under the CDM to sell their carbon credits to Annex-1 countries (India is a Non-Annex 1 country). This is outlined in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Sale of CERs would provide an additional source of revenue to enterprises with renewable energy/energy efficiency projects in Non-Annex 1 countries.

Rabo India has launched the financing window for projects with a positive impact on the environment and which help contain climate change. WII will provide technical inputs on baseline quantification and preparation of validation and monitoring protocols. It will also facilitate the process of project validation and registration.

Rabo India has already been awarded its first Carbon Advisory Mandate by the Goetze India Group for its 30.6 MW wind energy installations (set up through its subsidiaries) in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Broad scope of work for each transaction for WII includes two stages: preliminary assessment of the project to ascertain if it can be further developed as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project; and second, preparation of a detailed CDM Project Design Document (PDD).

The MOU was signed by Mr. Louis M Menezes, Chairperson, Board of Governors, Winrock International India and Mr. Rana Kapoor, CEO and Managing Director, Rabo India Finance. Also present on the occasion were Dr Frank Tugwell, President and CEO, Winrock International, Morrilton, USA, Dr. Sudhir Sharma, Senior Program Officer, Climate Change, WII, and Mr. Somak Ghosh, Associate Director and Head, Sustainability and Social Innovation, Rabo India Finance.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Menezes said, "WII has actively promoted the commercialization of renewable energy in India through efforts that would develop entrepreneurship and sensitize the banking and financial sectors to create innovative lending schemes. WII looks forward to using CDM as a tool in pursuing its quest for clean and green energy ".

For more information on the MOU
contact: sudhir@winrockindia.org