The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $5 million for the technical assistance for Kambarata-1 hydropower plant project. Office of the World Bank in the Kyrgyz Republic reported.
This technical assistance aims to support the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic in updating the Feasibility Study of the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant (HPP) project, enhancing its environmental and social sustainability, and strengthening its financial and commercial frameworks.
«The Kambarata-1 HPP is a critically important project that has the potential to bring huge benefits in clean energy generation, regional cooperation, water security, and environmental safeguards across Central Asia. The World Bank’s technical assistance will help the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic put the country’s abundant hydropower potential to the benefit of the people and region, while strengthening the governance and financial sustainability of the energy sector,» the World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia Tatiana Proskuryakova said.
The financing from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional lending arm, will be used to:
- Update previous studies to verify the technical feasibility and economic viability;
- Strengthen the environmental and social framework;
- Develop a fiscally sustainable financing plan and commercial framework.
Furthermore, this technical assistance will help increase the Kambarata-1 HPP benefits to larger constituencies through developing a benefit-sharing mechanism whereby a portion of the Kambarata-1 HPP’s revenues could potentially be channeled to various socio-economic programs and initiatives.
«Kambarata-1 is a transformative greenfield regional hydropower project that will power the clean energy future of the Kyrgyz Republic and Central Asia. This technical assistance will help to develop the project in a sustainable and bankable way thereby enabling the mobilization of necessary financing around it,» the World Bank Country Manager for the Kyrgyz Republic Naveed Hassan Naqvi said.
The financing for this project is provided on highly concessional terms through the International Development Association. Specifically, $3 million is a zero-interest credit, with repayments eased over 50 years and a 10-year grace period, while $2 million is allocated in the form of a grant from a multi-donor trust fund, which requires no repayment.
