The World Bank will consult with member countries this week to finalise a proposal to drastically limit its financing of coal-fired power plants, promoting renewable energy and microgrid projects instead.

The World Bank plans to restrict its financing of coal-fired power plants to “rare circumstances,” according to a draft strategy released in June. Member countries have had a month to mull it over, now the Bank has called a meeting this Friday for final discussions.

The draft report, which has been leaked to the media, says The World Bank “will cease providing financial support for ‘greenfield’ [new] coal power generation projects, except in rare circumstances where there are no feasible alternatives available to meet basic energy needs and other sources of financing are absent.”

The paper has been submitted to board members for consideration. Some of its objectives include; creating universal access to electricity and safe household fuels, double the amount of renewable energy in the global market and doubling the rate of energy-efficiency improvement.

 The World Bank says it “recognizes that each country’s transition to a sustainable energy sector involves a unique mix of resource opportunities and challenges... every effort will be made to minimize the financial and environmental costs of expanding reliable energy supply.”

Projects which have gained approval this year include a $37.8 million electricity expansion near Liberia’s capital; a $326 million program in Turkey to improve the energy efficiency of businesses; and a $33.5 million plan aimed at reducing carbon emissions from buildings in China.

More information is available from The World Bank.