IBRD to lend Belarus $90m for biomass projects

Belarusian MPs ratified a loan agreement between Belarus and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on 26 June. In line with the agreement the IBRD will grant Belarus a loan to implement a project to expand the use of wood biomass in central heating, BelTA has learnt.

The loan agreement was signed in Minsk on 8 April 2014. “The agreement provides for granting Belarus a $90 million loan by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to implement the project on expanding the use of wood biomass in central heating,” Director of the Energy Efficiency Department of the State Committee for Standardization Sergei Semashko said.

The project is to be implemented in 2014-2019. The loan term is 15 years with the deferral of the principal debt repayment for five years. For using the loan Belarus will pay a 0.25% one-off fee and an interest rate. The principal debt and the interest will be repaid from local budgets.

The project envisages renovation of 13 boiler houses in Brest Oblast, Gomel Oblast, Grodno Oblast, Minsk Oblast and Mogilev Oblast. These boiler houses will switch to using wood fuel. Co-generation plants will be built in major district boiler houses in Kalinkovichi and Baranovichi.

With a view to enhancing the efficiency of fuel use, the heat supply system will be optimized in the localities where the abovementioned boiler houses are situated. This implies upgrading heat networks, renovating central heat supply stations, constructing domestic heating plants and developing the necessary infrastructure, if needed.

The project will help replace imported natural gas with local firewood and save about 51.154 million cubic meters of natural gas per year. This project also seeks to secure smooth and uninterrupted supply of heat and electric power.