EBRD to fund modernization of Lebedinovskaya in the Kyrgyz Republic

The financial package, comprising an EBRD sovereign loan of €8.8 million and an investment grant of €5 million, will be disbursed to Chakan GES, a state-owned small hydropower operator, to help guarantee the long-term and efficient operation of the 7.6 MW run-of-river station, which is an important supplier of electricity to the capital city of Bishkek. The loan and grant agreements were signed on 6 March at the EBRD’s headquarter in London during a visit by Almaz Baketaev, Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic and Taalaybek Ibrayev, Minister of Energy.

Rehabilitation of the ageing plant, which was commissioned between 1943 and 1948, will entail the replacement of the two turbine-generator units and auxiliary systems, resulting in an increase in its installed capacity to 9.2 MW and in its annual electricity output by 56 per cent to 50.3 GWh. New efficiency and safety measures will also help the plant improve its resilience to climate change and adapt to changing water flow levels, the multilateral bank said in a press statement.