The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help provide
cleaner and more reliable energy in northwest China's Gansu Province by lending up to US$50 million
to support two medium-sized hydropower projects in the remote,
impoverished area near Zhangye City.
ADB's China office said on Tuesday that the loan would
help finance construction of a 50.5 megawatt power plant in
Erlongshan and a 60 MW power plant in Dagushan, part of the Heihe
river hydropower development scheme, which began construction in
1996.
The scheme involves seven medium-sized hydropower
plants that together will produce 645.5 MW of hydropower, said the
ADB.
Two power plants are already in operation and two more
will be in operation by next year, one of which--the 102 MW power
plant in Xiaogushan--was funded by ADB.
With more than 80 percent of Gansu's electricity
produced by coal-fired power plants, 13 of the province's 14 cities
fail to meet air quality standards.
According to the ADB, Lanzhou is on the list of the 50
most polluted Chinese cities. Not only is air pollution in Gansu
dire, some parts of the province, such as the Hexi corridor, suffer
from chronic power shortages.
"The project, an integral part of the provincial
government's plan to expand power generation at low cost, will help
alleviate power shortages in Zhangye and the Hexi corridor," says
Ashok Bhargava, an ADB Senior Energy Specialist.
On completion, the project will economize about 1
million tons of coal per year. It is expected to be eligible for
certified emission reductions under the Clean Development
Mechanism, a market-based financial instrument that helps
developing countries achieve sustainable development and
industrialized countries meet their emission reduction
targets.
The Erlongshan project is expected to be one of the
first projects eligible for carbon financing through the Asia
Pacific Carbon Fund under the recently ADB-approved Carbon Market
Initiative.
The total project cost is estimated at US$110 million,
of which US$37.86 million will be financed by domestic commercial
bank loans, and US$22.14 million by the city government and the
Heihe Hydropower Development Company.
(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2006)
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