- EBRD €260 million loan to Almaty Power Plans
- Modernisation of Combined Heat and Power Plant 2, reduction of harmful emissions
- Major environmental relief for Kazakhstan’s largest city
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a major environmental relief for Kazakhstan’s largest municipality, Almaty, by extending a 15-year loan to Almaty Power Plants (APP) for the modernisation of its Combined Heat and Power Plant 2 (CHP 2).
The EBRD’s financing of up to KZT 130 billion (€260 million), the Bank’s largest transaction in the country this year, will help APP, a subsidiary of the state-owned energy producer Samruk-Energy, implement the long-awaited modernisation of CHP 2. The coal-fired plant the largest heat provider in the city is also responsible for approximately one third of hazardous emissions in Almaty.
This a trigger project for Almaty Green City Action Plan (GCAP) - a crucial tool that helps the municipality set out its sustainable development vision and strategic objectives, as well as the actions and investments required to address high-priority environmental issues. It will facilitate full replacement of coal by natural gas and will result in an immediate impact on the pollution and air quality. The modernisation will help to completely eliminate dust containing atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and sulphur oxides (SOx). Additionally, it well help reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by more than 86 per cent and annual CO2 emissions by 55 per cent.
The CHP 2 modernisation will provide a lifeline to almost 2.2 million people living in Almaty and exposed to excessive air pollution particularly in winter. Located in a valley surrounded by the mountains, Almaty is affected by the lack of wind, which can disperse harmful emissions, and the concentration of PM is 17 times higher the World Health Organisation norm. As a result 24 per cent of adults and almost 60 per cent of children of the megapolis suffer from chronic pulmonary diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. This figure is three times higher than in large cities across Central Asia and 6 times higher than in the EU.
EBRD Vice President Alain Pilloux said: “Our Bank plans to scale up its climate and environmental finance to more than 50 per cent of annual investment by 2025. This is a perfect example of a green project, which will improve quality of air in Almaty, increase life expectancy of the local people and bring Kazakhstan closer to alignment with the Paris Agreement and its 2060 carbon neutrality target.”
The project is supported by technical assistance provided by the governments of Japan and Kazakhstan.
As part of the engagement with the EBRD, APP will design and implement a new, accredited inclusive and market-relevant training programme on green and digital skills in partnership with local training institutions.
In 2022 the EBRD marks 30 years since Kazakhstan joined the Bank. With more than €9.84 billion invested in the country to date through almost 300 projects, this is the EBRD’s largest and longest-running uninterrupted banking operation in Central Asia