PRISTINA (Kosovo), October 12 (SeeNews) – London-listed ContourGlobal, responsible for the construction of a 500 MW coal-fired power plant in Kosovo, said it remains committed to the project despite a statement from the World Bank president that the lender will not support it.
“The World Bank is irrelevant to the successful completion of the Kosovo e Re power plant, a project crucial to the future of Kosovo’s energy supply and economic development,” the chief executive officer of ContourGlobal, Joseph Brandt, said in a statement emailed to SeeNews late on Thursday.
“The Bank’s role was never to provide financing to the project and its statements about the project have no impact on the process. We, together with the Government of Kosovo remain firmly committed to this important project which reached the critical milestone of commercial close last year,” Brandt added. “We remain confident of securing the necessary financing and a timetable which will see construction starting in early 2019.”
ContourGlobal also said that the company continues to make progress arranging the financing for the Kosova e Re plant, none of which rely on World Bank support, including a mix of financing from development finance institutions, such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and international export credit agencies.
"These discussions are on track. The selection process for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) providers remains on schedule,” the statement reads.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has said the Bank will not back the power plant in Kosovo, local media reported on Wednesday.
“We have made a very firm decision not to go forward with the coal power plant,” Kosovo public broadcaster RTK quoted Jim Yong Kim as saying at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Bali, Indonesia.
In December, Kosovo's government signed an agreement with ContourGlobal to launch the construction of Kosova e Re. The new power plant will be operational by 2023 and is expected to cost around 1.3 billion euro ($1.5 billion), Kosovo's economy and development ministry said at the time. The life span of the future power plant is estimated at 40 years.
The project is considered to be Kosovo's largest energy project, which will replace the 40-year-old Kosovo A plant and is seen as the only solution to the country's chronic air pollution and unreliable power supplies.
"The power plant will bring a stable energy supply, significantly lower pollution and provide economic growth," ContourGlobal said.
ContourGlobal is an international power-generation company with approximately 4,305 MW in operation in 18 countries. It operates a portfolio of 100 thermal and renewable power plants across Europe, Latin America, and Africa utilizing a wide range of technologies.
($ = 0.86440 euro)