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EBRD lends Romanian district heating company €20 million
Loan to CET will benefit residents and environment
The EBRD is lending Centrala Electrica de Termoficare Iasi (CET.) S.A., the
district heating company in Iasi, a city in north-east Romania, €20 million to
help cut energy waste and air pollution. A part of the loan will be provided
in local currency.
CET will use the 12-year loan to rehabilitate the district heating
distribution system by replacing pipes in the distribution network, installing
building heat substations and upgrading central heat substations. It will
reduce carbon dioxide emissions, benefiting the environment, cut pollution
levels, providing health benefit for local residents, and reduce heat and
water losses, making the company more efficient, and ultimately providing
customers with a reliable heating service at affordable prices.
This is the first direct EBRD loan to a district heating company in Romania
outside of Bucharest, and we hope it is the start of a new trend with other
municipalities across the country, said Thomas Maier, EBRD Municipal and
Environmental Infrastructure team director.
The loan builds on the Bank’s extensive support for Romanian municipalities
and municipally-owned companies, especially in the water and transport
sectors. To date the Bank has committed over €353 million in such projects in
nearly 20 municipalities across the country. The loan is expected to be
syndicated to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (“RZB”) of Vienna, Austria.
The project has been supported by SECO, the Swiss State Secretariat for
Economic Affairs, which has funded the feasibility study for the project and
is currently considering an additional grant to co-finance the project. CET,
which is owned by the City of Iasi, is contributing around €4.4 million. A
portion of these costs could be supported by the sale of carbon credits
generated through energy savings after this latest project is implemented.
The EBRD is one of the largest investors in Romania, having committed nearly
€3 billion in over 150 projects.
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