December 21 (SeeNews) - Kosovo's finance ministry has signed financing agreements for an 80 million euro ($84.9 million) project for the construction a solar power plant that will generate energy for district heating, the first of its kind in the Western Balkans, the European Union office in Kosovo said.
The EU is providing a 21.5 million euro grant, whereas German development bank KfW will grant 31.6 million euro for the project, the EU office in Kosovo said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project will also be supported by a 23.2 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
“Thanks to this project, many families in Pristina will stop burning coal and wood to heat their homes, which would in itself significantly increase their air quality and reduce CO2 emissions,” Charlotte Ruhe, EBRD managing director for Central and South-Eastern Europe, said in the statement.
The solar power plant will increase the total heating capacity by enabling the expansion of the heating network for 50 MW. It will use technology which enables storing energy accumulated in summer and releasing it for central heating purposes in winter.
“These new capacities will ensure access to the central heating system for about 38 thousand citizens, which will replace the individual heating systems, and at the same time will also address the chronic problem of air pollution in Pristina," Kosovo's finance minister Hekuran Murati said.
($ = 0.941644 euro)