BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) – The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Monday joined hands with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Almaty) JSC (ICBC Almaty) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) to fund the Zhanatas wind farm project, the largest of its kind in central Asia.
The lenders signed Monday agreements to provide a total loan of 95.3 million U.S. dollars for the Zhanatas wind farm, located approximately nine kilometers southwest of Zhanatas in the southern Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. It is a 100 megawatt wind power plant with 80 percent share owned by China Power International Holding(CPIH) and 20 percent by Visor Investments Coöperatief (VISOR).
AIIB is financing up to 34.3 million U.S. dollars for operation and construction of the Zhanatas wind power project, which, when completed, will provide the country approximately 319 gigawatt hours of renewable energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 260,623 tonnes annually.
Photo: Representatives from all the related parties including AIIB, ICBC Almaty and China Power International Development Limited witnessed the loan agreements signing ceremony at AIIB headquarter in Beijing on Monday.
"Our investment in the largest wind power plant in the region reflects AIIB's support for the government of Kazakhstan's transition to a 'green economy', which will advance efforts to meet the country's commitments under the Paris Agreement," said AIIB vice president and chief investment officer D.J. Pandian.
Tian Jun, board chairman of China Power International Development Limited, a subsidiary of CPIH, introduced at the signing ceremony that the project, as one of the first batch of key energy projects under the China-Kazakhstan production capacity cooperation framework, is a wind power plant with the largest installed capacity in Central Asia and involved a total investment of around 150 million U.S. dollars.
With construction officially kicked off in July 2019, partial operation of the wind power project was reached on September 30 this year, marking that the Zhanatas wind power plant has formally started to produce green energy, said Tian.
Upon its formal commercial operation, the Zhanatas wind power plant will help ease the power shortage in south Kazakhstan and play a demonstrative role in realizing the de-carbonization of the energy system in Kazakhstan, Tian added.
Wang Shun, deputy general manager of the International Banking Department (IBD) of ICBC said that the Zhanatas wind power project is an important project that will benefit people of Kazakhstan, and ICBC's participation in the project testifies its belief in supporting green and high quality development.
In future, ICBC will continue to leverage its global business network and strong capability in trustee and agent business for the Belt and Road projects to ensure the provision of quality financial services for local projects in Kazakhstan, according to Wang.
Recent years, ICBC has attached great importance to supporting the Belt and Road projects and fulfilling responsibilities as a major state-owned bank. Currently, ICBC has 425 overseas institutions in 49 countries and regions, including 125 institutions in 21 countries along the Belt and Road routes. By leveraging its extensive global business network, ICBC has financed more than 400 going global projects with the total loan volume exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars. (Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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