The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced financing for the construction of a new 50MW solar power plant in the southern Kazakhstan.

30Jan - EBRD

Image: A new 50MW solar power plant in the southern Kazakhstan. Photo: Courtesy of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The financing package announced by the EBRD includes a local currency loan of up to $40.4m in Kazakhstan Tenge and a loan of up to $10m from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The proposed new solar power plant is expected to be constructed in Chulakkurgan, south Kazakhstan, and would be capable of generating more than 102GWh of electricity per annum and help reduce 86,000 tons CO2 emission per annum.

For this investment, EBRD has collaborated with Risen Energy, a China-based solar modules manufacturer and project developer. This marks EBRD’s second project with Risen after the two organizations worked together to deliver a 40MW solar plant in the Karaganda region of the country.

The project is a part of EBRD’s Kazakhstan Renewables Framework, a €200m facility for financing renewable energy projects in Central Asia, which benefits from a $110m contribution from the GCF. The present financing marks the eighth project to be signed under the Bank’s Renewables Framework.

As part of the framework, EBRD is supporting the implementation Kazakhstan government’s strategy related to renewable energy and carbon market.

Earlier this month, a new 100MW solar plant was launched in the Karaganda region of north Kazakhstan. The project was developed by Joachim Goldbeck Holding of Germany and co-financed by the EBRD and the GCF.

In October 2018, the EBRD supported the construction of a 28MW new solar plant in southern Kazakhstan.

Implemented by Nomad Solar, a special purpose company incorporated in Kazakhstan and owned by the French company Total Eren and the United Arab Emirates company Access Infra Central Asia, the solar park project is expected to lead to a reduction of annual CO2 emissions by 47,800 tonnes.

The financing for the project has been provided in local currency, Kazakh tenge, for up to an equivalent of $35m on a project finance basis.

EBRD claims that it has invested a total of over $8.85bn in the economy of Kazakhstan through 254 projects.