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EBRD restructures BiH electricity loan following power sector reform
€16 million credit helps modernise transmission system
The EBRD is supporting the modernising of the electricity transmission system in Bosnia and Herzegovina by restructuring an earlier loan to bring it in line with recent reforms in the sector and in particular the establishment of Transmission Company and Independent System Operator.
A €50 million loan to BiH was initially signed by the Bank in 2000 for the supply and installation of a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (or SCADA) system. A €16 million portion of it will be transferred to the two newly established Transmission Company and Independent System Operator alongside parts of the SCADA project. The SCADA system will be used to help increase the efficiency and reliability of the transmission network. It will also support the development of the trading of power both in BiH and neighbouring countries.
Up to now the whole of the previous EBRD loan had only been available to the three utilities.
Giulio Moreno, EBRD Head of Office in Sarajevo, said the loan will help to upgrade the electricity transmission system in Bosnia and Herzegovina and provide key stakeholders in the sector their respective share of the SCADA project.
The loan builds on the EBRD’s support for the country’s power sector. Since 1996, including this latest loan, the Bank has invested around €130 million into the country’s power sector. It was also one of the first institutions to help reconstruct the sector in the aftermath of the conflicts.
The Bank is one of the largest investors in BiH, having committed more than €688 million in 63 projects.
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