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Asian Development Bank sends financial mission to Azerbaijan

21 January 2010 13:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev - APA-ECONOMICS. The Asian Development Bank has sent a delegation for financial issues on mission to Azerbaijan.

â€œThe delegation includes Lead Financial Specialist Martin Phillip Endelman and Senior Guarantees and Syndications Specialist Roland Pladet. The specialists will have consultation with AzerEnerji state utility on 80 MWe Cenub Power Plant. They will leave Azerbaijan on January 31,â€ said the ADB Office in Baku.

The Asian Development Bank currently provides funding to the Power Transmission Enhancement Project in Azerbaijan with a $160 million loan.

The 25-year loan will help build a double-circuit 220 kilovolt transmission line and associated substation facilities, replacing two existing lines which have been in use for about 60 years by state-owned power company, AzerEnerji.

Over 20% of the countryâ€™s energy equipment and more than half of its network facilities are well beyond their useful life, resulting in frequent power failures, system losses, and the threat of a collapse of the energy grid.

The upgrade will remove transmission choke points, lower system losses, and provide a more stable power supply, especially in the key Azeri industrial hub, near the capital city of Baku.
It will also cut the need for imported electricity, optimize the countryâ€™s hydropower resource, and reduce fossil fuel consumption and pollution. The gas and oil saved will be exported, giving a boost to government coffers.

ADBâ€™s loan will support the Governmentâ€™s priority program of reforming and developing the power industry to protect its energy security. It will also act as a potential catalyst for attracting private sector investment.
The project costs in total $240 million in total, $80 million of which will be provided by AzerEnerji.