EBRD to support Yereymentau wind farm in Kazakhstan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to provide financing for the 50MW wind farm in Yereymentau, Kazakhstan.

 

 

 

The bank will provide a €59.2m loan to Wind Power Yereymentau, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in Kazakhstan.

About €18m of concessional financing will be provided by the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

Kazakhstan’s national energy firm JSC Samruk-Energo will guarantee the loan for the wind farm, which is the first power sector project in Kazakhstan to secure CTF funding.

The wind power plant is expected to reduce 120,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year.

JSC Samruk-Energo management board chairman Almassadam Satkaliyev said: “The signing of this loan agreement is in line with Kazakhstan’s low-carbon economy agenda. This year we are completing the construction of the first wind farm with a 45 MW capacity.

“Our partnership with the EBRD and the CTF will enable us to increase capacity up to 95 MW.”

Kazakhstan’s overall wind potential is projected to be about 18,000GWh per year. The country’s renewable energy has been limited to a few hydropower plants, majority of which constructed in the Soviet era.

EBRD energy and natural resources managing director Riccardo Puliti said: “We stand ready to help Kazakhstan unlock its potential in renewables by financing pilot projects with strong local and foreign companies.”

The bank’s support for the Yereymentau project is the result of cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan to set up the legal and regulatory frameworks for renewable energy.

The renewable energy law was introduced in June 2013, with tariffs for off-take agreed in 2014.