Preparing Smart and Green Grid Program (ADB-59475-001)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Bhutan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 20, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Bhutan
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
  • Law and Government
  • Technical Cooperation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Advisory Services
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 1.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Jan 23, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Dec 20, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the ADB, the Smart and Green Grid Program, a results-based lending (RBL) program, in Bhutan will support the government's long-term commitment to the National Energy Policy 2025 and the Renewable Energy Development Roadmap 2040 by addressing bottlenecks in the power grid that constrain the country's ability to meet growing electricity demand and increase green electricity exports. By modernizing and digitalizing grid operations, the program will:

(i) enhance reliability, safety, and climate resilience;
(ii) facilitate regional integration through seamless cross-border power flows;
(iii) optimize grid efficiency and operations; and
(iv) strengthen cybersecurity and the digital resilience of the power system.

The program will include:

(i) high-priority transmission components, focusing on the East-West transmission line, the planned cross-border interconnection between Bhutan and India;
(ii) smart grid components to improve reliability, efficiency, and climate resilience through network upgrades, automation, and advanced monitoring; and
(iii) institutional capacity enhancements to strengthen power trade readiness, digital capabilities, disaster risk management, and safeguard compliance.

The program is aligned with the following impact: energy security, regional integration, and digital connectivity enhanced. The outcome of the program will be transmission network capacity increased; and quality, efficiency, and reliability of electricity supply improved. The program will have three outputs:

(i) transmission network strengthened to integrate renewable energy;
(ii) grid modernized and digitalized, and operational resilience enhanced; and
(iii) institutional capacity for power trade, smart grid, climate risk management, and safeguard management increased.

The Government of Bhutan has requested a regular loan of $150 million from the ordinary capital resources of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), using the results-based lending (RBL) modality. Further, a grant not exceeding $15 million was allocated from the Asian Development Fund (ADF 14) thematic window to support the program.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ADB Team Leader:

Jongmi Son
Email: json@adb.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.

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