Some considerations for an AMC in the climate context

Outline

Advance Market Commitments and general pull-mechanisms (‘AMC+’) in climate finance.

Lessons from the vaccine AMC for the climate context. An analogy, and its limitations.

AMC or ‘AMC+’...?

Pull-mechanisms or ‘AMC+’ A mechanism that provides a value

enhancement to overcome uncertainty over whether investment costs can be recouped.

AMC A pull mechanism that seeks to

create a sustainable market by subsidizing demand in exchange for capacity creation.

Requires dedicated capacity

No dedicated capacity

Demand subsidy

Original AMC Feed-in tariff

No demand subsidy

Renewable energy standard

X-prize

AMC+ climate applications must seek to leverage private funds.

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50

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150

200

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Pledge 2010-2012 Financing needestimates 2010-

2020

Pledge 2020

bn

US

$ p

er y

ear

$63bn

$300bn

$100bn

$10bn

Current climate funding commitments:

• Funds are scarce;

• Many rival uses, from forests to adaptation;

• Not clear how much funding is new;

• Not clear how reliable.

Therefore:Where possible, invest public funds to reach tipping point where markets become sustainable.Source: WDR 2010, Copenhagen Accord.

Climate funding commitments vs. need estimates

How to learn from the vaccine AMC

A key lesson of the vaccine AMC is that the specific product, market, industry, and policy context matter!

Do not try to just transplant the concept.

Rather, define the project, then tailor a financing instrument.

The original vaccine AMC is complex…

Supply commitments sought for 200m doses annually for 10 years

With tranching

AMC subsidy entitlement (proportional to supply commitment)

Rate of subsidy

Demand guarantee

Tail price ceiling

The principal goal: create a viable market that sustainably serves poor countries.

… this was made necessary by diverse challenges in the market environmentProblematic market features: Indivisibilities in capital investment Demand risk and asymmetric information on demand Asymmetric information on cost Strong market power:

Only two players in the short run, one assumed to have higher unit cost

Possibility of entry

In principle, addressing complex market failures is a strength of AMCs

Writing the AMC contract required a good sense of many parameters

Overall supply commitment size (driven by need estimates)

Tranche size (driven by timing of entry)

AMC subsidy entitlement (driven by capital investment cost)

Rate of subsidy (driven by signaling effect)

Demand guarantee (driven by industry risk perception)

Tail price ceiling (driven by marginal cost)

Both demand and cost curves were fairly well understood in the Pneumo AMC (demand more so).

Demand projections were the result of close cooperation with developing-country counterparts, and intimate knowledge of the policy environment.

Yet, it still proved hard to get the parameters right.

There are risks in AMCs:

Non-participation;

Windfall profits.

Understanding demand and cost well is crucial in limiting risk.

A lesson for climate AMCs: know the industry and the policy environment

Source: GAVI Strategic Demand Forecast, 2009

Social efficiency facilitated decision-making Uncertainty over cost estimates – could reduce it, but not eliminate Market power: needed to get several firms to bid Very high and robust social value

Therefore: precaution called for maximizing the likelihood of success, rather than marginally reducing cost

$6.00 $7.50 $10.00

$2.00

$2.50

$3.00

$3.50 $33

$4.00

AMC subsidy per unit of capacity

Tai

l pri

ce

Social efficiency of AMC investment ($ per DALY)

Robust efficiency

Robust efficiencySource: adapted from World Bank, 2009

Another lesson for climate AMCs: know the product’s social returns

Because of asymmetric information, and/or because technology is not yet there, uncertainty will remain despite due diligence

It will generally be hard to answer the question “what are the optimal parameters?”

IF social efficiency of the proposal is high and robust, it is enough to answer the question:

“Are the proposed parameters reasonably efficient and have a chance of leading to a successful AMC?”

Two possible analogies for an AMC in the climate context – and their limitations

Two possible analogies for an AMC in the climate context – and their limitations

An analogy based on good social returns: robust off-grid renewable energy.

A different analogy, based on knowledge of the policy environment: support for uncertain government FiT.

An analogy based on good social returns: robust off-grid renewable energy

High social returns; Clearly defined need; Contract could require long-term delivery/maintenance to force capacity

dedicated to developing countries. Indivisibilities in research cost incurred to adapt product to low-cost,

locally maintained deployment; Market test inherent in AMC may be better suited than X-prize to ensure

technology is robust.

Thought experiment: is a traditional AMC suitable for financing off-grid renewable energy in developing countries that can be installed, operated and maintained with local capacities?

Limits of the analogy

• A very different market, with far less market power;• Social returns may be less clear in comparing clean tech v.

traditional off-grid;• Hard to monitor performance;• Need may be less clear in long-term, as grids may expand.

Product characteristics are less naturally defined than for vaccines:

• Offer contract for a specific technology?• Or request general “off/micro-grid technology with certain

generating capacity, at certain cost and emissions level and certifiably (by whom?) suited for local O/M”

A different analogy, based on knowledge of the policy environment: support for uncertain government FiT Many developing countries are legislating market incentives for clean

energy, such as FiT. However, suppliers often perceive uncertainty over:

Whether funds will be allocated to these subsidies; Whether the physical and administrative infrastructure will be in place.

Could think about leveraging strong existing engagement with power sector in developing country for an AMC or AMC+ support.

There is of course moral hazard (for the government) in this scheme. This is also the case with the vaccine AMC – governments must pay their

part; The scheme is only viable if donors have confidence in counterpart capacity

and intentions; It will be very much easier to consider if the social benefits are high and

robust.

Takeaway message

Some good questions to ask in approaching a climate AMC

Basic conditions for an AMC: Is there a market failure due to uncertainty over recouping investment? Do we know the demand and cost curve for the product well enough to

reasonably size the AMC?

Narrow down candidate AMCs: Is the social return high and robust? Do donors have a knowledge/trust advantage on government policies?

Make sure AMC has a comparative advantage: Has the market failure frustrated other efforts to incentivize clean

technology? Is the investment eligible for funding under other financing mechanisms?

Takeaway points

For pull-mechanisms (AMC+) in the climate area, leveraging private funds is key;

A full-fledged AMC like vaccine AMC is powerful, because it can address multiple market failures;

But the structure is complex; And there is both political and non-performance risk in AMCs; Getting it right requires a good knowledge of the details:

Product; Market; Industry; Policy environment.

So, think carefully about whether to apply an AMC, and tailor it to the desired purpose.