The funding package comprising an EBRD sovereign loan of €8.8 million and an investment grant of €5 million will go to Chakan GES, the state-owned hydropower operator of nine small hydro power plants, to help finance the rehabilitation and modernisation of Lebedinovskaya.
Commissioned in 1943-48, the hydropower project’s equipment is old, inefficient and urgently in need of replacement. The proposed improvements in productivity will help increase its annual electricity output by 56%, bringing it to 50,300MWh. New efficiency and safety measures will also help the project improve its resilience to climate change and adapt to changing water flow levels.
Technical cooperation funding from Austria under the High-Impact Partnership on Climate Action (HIPCA) will complement the Bank’s investment and support to Chakan GES in the management and implementation of the rehabilitation project.
