ADB provides $300m to boost clean energy
Manila, Philippines: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a
$300 million dual-tranche loan to help Sri Lanka scale up its use of
clean energy and cut its reliance on costly petroleum oil for
electricity generation.
"The country's heavy dependence on expensive imported petroleum oil
hurts the economy, undermines energy security, and harms the
environment," said ADB Principal Energy Specialist, Mukhtor Khamudkhanov.
"This loan will help Sri Lanka expand the use of renewable energy for
power generation and have major benefits for poor communities and the
broader economy," he said.
The first $150 million tranche will finance a 30-megawatt (MW),
run-of-the-river hydro-power plant at Moragolla in the Central Province
and expand and upgrade transmission lines and other infrastructure in
needy areas, including the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The hydro-power plant will generate an additional 97.7 million units
of power for the grid, saving about 72,300 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions every year while improved transmission lines will further
reduce annual CO2 emissions by 98,400 tons.
Environmental and social safeguards will be incorporated into the the
program to minimise the impact and a mechanism will be developed to
guarantee downstream river flows so that sensitive fisheries, including
the endangered Green Labeo, will not be adversely affected by the power
plant.
The second tranche, due to be delivered in 2016, will include
expanding the 33 kilovolt medium voltage network to improve distribution
of electricity to consumers and the development of transmission network
facilities to allow power delivery from two, 100 MW wind parks due to be
built in the Northern Province in 2017 and 2020.
Assistance will also be given for demand-side energy efficiency
improvements including the use of smart grid and metering technologies,
the retrofitting of buildings with energy saving features, and the
installation of cold thermal storage in selected buildings.
The improved transmission system is expected to boost access to
reliable power for about 300,000 customers in rural areas and small
towns who suffer from low quality supplies.
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