BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 20. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) assist Kazakhstan in hazardous emissions reduction, Zsuzsanna Hargitai, EBRD Managing Director for Central Asia, told Trend.
According to the managing director, in 2022, the EBRD has signed a 15-year loan of 130 billion Kazakh tenge (260 million euros) to Almaty Power Plants for the modernization of its Combined Heat and Power Plant 2 (CHP 2) by indicate year of completion.
“It will facilitate full replacement of coal by natural gas. The coal-fired CHP 2 is the largest heat provider in the city responsible for approximately one third of hazardous emissions in Almaty,” she said.
As Hargitai explained, the modernization will help to completely eliminate dust containing atmospheric particulate matter and sulphur oxides, reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by more than 86 percent, and annual CO2 emissions by 55 percent.
The managing director noted that the EBRD’s annual investment in Kazakhstan stood at $525 million (480 million euros) through 14 projects.
“Our annual disbursements in the country reached $600 million (over 550 million euros) making it one the most effective operations in the Bank with tangible result you can see,” she added.
Meanwhile, the current EBRD portfolio in Kazakhstan as of January 1, 2023, amounted to 2.91 billion euros. The portfolio is designed for the implementation of 122 ongoing projects.