March 15 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's city of Zenica will replace its polluting coal-fired power plant with a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant with the help of a 46 million euro ($51 million) financing package arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank said on Friday.
The CHP plant, Toplana Zenica, will supply electricity to Zenica and the city's biggest employer - the ArcelorMittal steel mill, EBRD said in a statement.
The project will be implemented by a newly formed joint venture comprising Zenica - a city of some 160,000 inhabitants, ArcelorMittal Zenica and Finnish companies KPA Unicon and Finnfund,
The 46 million euro package consists of a 28 million euro loan for the EBRD’s own account and a loan of up to 18 million euro provided by Banca Intesa Sanpaolo. The EBRD portion includes a 23 million euro from the bank and 5 million euro of concessional financing from the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF).
The existing coal-fired boilers at the power plant of the steel mill will be replaced by gas-fired boilers. Moreover, a high-efficiency electric blower will take the place of the old steam-driven one. The new steam boilers will run on recovery gases from the steel mill and the coal will be completely phased out, which will result in efficient and cost-effective use of resources, the EBRD said.
“We are pleased to sign this investment today which combines our strength as a financial institution with our goal to promote the green economy," EBRD Western Balkans' CEO Zsuzsanna Hargitai said.
Zenica is part of EBRD's Green Cities programme, which aims at building a better future for cities and their residents.
($ = 0.884617 euro)