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The EBRD and the government of Kazakhstan are continuing to support sustainable public utilities through an extension of existing projects with the Central Asian Electric Power Corporation (CAEPCO), the largest private sector energy corporation in the country, to modernise district heating in the cities of Petropavlovsk, Pavlodar and Ekibastuz. The project is expected to benefit over 500,000 residents in north-eastern Kazakhstan.

 

The EBRD is providing two loans of up to 4.65 billion tenge each (equivalent to about ?11.6 million) to CAEPCO subsidiaries, the district heating operators for Petropavlovsk, Pavlodar and Ekibastuz. The Bank is already cooperating with these two companies on the first stage of a district heating modernisation programme.

 

The two EBRD loans will be co-financed by the government of Kazakhstan under the Enhanced Partnership Framework Agreement with the EBRD, under which the government and the Bank co-invest in infrastructure projects. The government will provide up to 9.3 billion tenge (?23.3 million equivalent).

Separately, CAEPCO, together with two local district heating providers, Petropavlovskiye Teplovye Seti and Pavlodarskiye Teplovye Seti, will invest 7.3 billion tenge (?18.3 million equivalent) in modernisation programmes. 

The district heating sector is a major consumer of energy in Kazakhstan but a lack of investment means that the sector remains one of the most energy-intensivein the country. These ventures will help improve energy efficiency, reduce heat losses and improve environmental standards in the sector.

The project was signed during the visit of the EBRD President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, to Astana, on the fringes of the Astana Economic Forum.

 

Sir Suma said: “One of the EBRD’s highest priorities is energy and resource sustainability. This is an important project for the sustainable development of modern and efficient municipal services in Kazakhstan. It will bring about a major improvement in the sector’s environmental performance, introduce best practices and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. By improving the efficiency of the district heating sector, we are helping the real economy and real people.”

Erkyn Amirkhanov, President of CAEPCO, added: “The agreement signed will allow us to continue our district heating network rehabilitation programme, which CAEPCO started in 2011 in partnership with the EBRD. The second phase of this programme is to be implemented in the framework of a public-private partnership.  Thanks to the government support, total financing of 25.95 billion tenge will be applied in 2016-20 to improve the reliability and sustainability of the district heating systems in the cities of Petropavlovsk, Pavlodar and Ekibastuz. This project will make it possible to fully eliminate excessive heat loss as well as to improve environmental standards.”

To date, the EBRD has invested over ?6.3 billion in Kazakhstan through more than 200 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance.