US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF)
From 2016-2023, CPI managed the US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) initiative: India’s first project preparation and pipeline development facility to support promising distributed solar projects to develop into viable investment opportunities and drive long-term debt financing.
USICEF is a keystone of the commitment made between the Indian and US governments to mobilize finance for Indian distributed clean energy projects.
USICEF supported more than 45 early-stage businesses across 20 states in India that went on to mobilize more than 30x in commercial capital over the initial grants provided.
Featured work
Publication
The Future of Distributed Renewable Energy in India
India will require an annual DRE investment of USD 18 billion by 2024, a 10x increase from current levels to meet its sustainability targets. This CPI report outlines the benefits and market potential of India’s DRE sector, examines the current policy and institutional landscape, and provides tailor...
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Credit Support Pathways for Rooftop Solar Projects in India
The proposed Credit Guarantee Mechanism addresses the most important barriers to scaling rooftop solar in the MSME sector; and could be crucial if India wants to achieve its rooftop solar target by 2022.
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Drivers and Challenges for Rooftop Solar Loans to Small and Medium Enterprises in India
A CAPEX model with a commercial loan for the off-taker is a potential solution for these categories of customers. In this report, we assess the viability of the CAPEX loan model with a focus on the MSME sector, identify barriers to uptake, and recommended policy solutions to these barriers.
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Assessing Climate Risks to India’s Power Sector: A District-Level and Asset-Level Methodology for Climate-Resilient Power Systems
India has faced 400+ extreme weather events over three decades, yet most climate risk tools stop at hazard identification. CRAF, developed by CPI India, goes further — quantifying operational and financial risk across the power sector value chain.
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UDB Currency Risk-Sharing Facility
This instrument design report explains how Uganda Development Bank, through the FiCS Innovation Lab, has designed the innovative Climate Risk-sharing Facility to mitigate currency risk to scale affordable lending for green projects.
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Unlocking Climate Risk Insurance: The Role of Public Development Banks
Rising climate risks demand stronger economic resilience. While vital for everything from small farms to infrastructure, insurance remains limited in EMDEs. Our report explores how scaling these solutions can protect physical assets and unlock capital for high-risk markets.
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Alternative Models for Transmission Financing in Indonesia
This report evaluates alternative project financing models that could enable greater private investment in Indonesia grid infrastructure, allowing risk sharing, improved access to capital, and enhanced financial sustainability for PLN.
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DBSA: Financial instrument design for an effective carbon market in South Africa
The Development Bank of Southern Africa, in partnership with the FiCS Innovation Lab Incubator, has developed two novel financial instruments designed to transform carbon credits from complex assets into de-risked, bankable products.
