EBRD and Green Climate Fund provide US$ 16.7 million to finance solar power plant in Kazakhstan

Today, the EBRD signed the financing agreement with China’s Universal Energy, during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, a high-profile international event, which brought together 40 foreign leaders as well as thousands of representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations. The agreement was signed by Nandita Parshad, EBRD Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure Group, and Nan Yi, President and CEO of Universal Energy.

The financing package arranged by the EBRD includes a local currency loan of up to KZT 4.4 billion (US$ 11.7 million) and a loan of up to US$ 5 million from the GCF. The proceeds will be used to finance the construction of a new 30MW solar power plant, which will be located in Zhangiz-tobe village in the east of the country. The plant will generate over 38,900 MWh of electricity per year and will help to reduce CO2 emissions by 31,650 tons per year.

The developer of the project is Universal Energy - a company specialised in the investment, development, construction, operation and maintenance of green energy projects. Universal Energy is actively developing a portfolio of solar projects worldwide and in Kazakhstan.

The investment is the eighth project signed under the Bank’s Kazakhstan Renewables Framework, a €200 million facility for financing renewable energy projects in Central Asia, which benefits from a US$ 110 million contribution from the GCF.

Only recently a new 40MW solar plant was launched in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan. The project was also co-financed by the EBRD and GCF.

In 2018 alone, under its Green Economy Transition approach, the EBRD mobilised investments worth €3.4 billion into green economy projects.

To date, the EBRD has invested a total of over US$ 8.85 billion in the economy of Kazakhstan through 254 projects.