World Bank okays $378.425 mln loan for expansion of power transmission in Ukraine

Photo: Dtek.com

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on December 22, 2014, approved a $378.425 million loan for the Second Power Transmission Project to improve the reliability of the power transmission system and support the implementation of the Wholesale Electricity Market in Ukraine, the World Bank said in a statement.

"The new investment will support efforts to develop plans for renewable power integration, applying smart grid solutions at power transmission. It will also support the implementation of the Wholesale Electricity Market and Balancing Market mechanisms and enhance electricity market competitiveness by aligning the Ukrainian network with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. This will help to strengthen not only national, but also regional energy security," the statement reads.

"The new project will help the national energy company Ukrenergo to design and implement high-priority transmission system rehabilitation measures and upgrades, increasing the system's reliability. It aims to make substations more efficient through reducing the number of outages, while strengthening electricity market performance. This will be done across the Central and Northern power systems, the country's two major regional networks, covering almost one-third of Ukrainians who will get more stable electricity supplies," the World Bank said.

The project includes a $48.425 million loan provided by the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which will be used to assist Ukrenergo in the design and installation of the next generation of modern communications, grid management, and control systems, which will enable large-scale integration of wind and solar energy resources and improve management and operation of the transmission network.

In addition, the project provides $2.5 million of institutional support to Ukraine's Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry for the implementation of energy sector reforms in line with its commitments within the Energy Community and the EU Association Agreement.

This new project is part of the World Bank Group's overall assistance to Ukraine announced in March this year. The Bank Group has pledged up to $3.5 billion of new lending for Ukraine in 2014, of which over $2.5 billion has already been provided.

The World Bank is a major development partner of Ukraine. With this new investment, the World Bank's active lending portfolio will amount to about $4.6 billion, through 14 operations in the country. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, the Bank's commitments to the country have totaled over $9 billion for 45 projects and programs.

Ukrenergo operates Ukraine's backbone and interstate power grids, as well as supervising the country's national grid. It is a state-owned company and is controlled by the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine