The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said today it has approved a loan of USD 150 million (EUR 141m) to support clean energy projects in China's Shaanxi Province.
The first batch of projects to be backed is worth a total of USD 459 million and includes industrial waste heat recovery for electricity generation and heating, solar photovoltaics (PV), biogas and biofuel recovery for agricultural waste, use of industrial waste gases for power generation, and geothermal energy for heat supply to residential areas.
The initiative is targeted at improving the energy efficiency of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the province and involves the provision of debt financing, credit guarantees and lease financing.
Domestic commercial banks will provide more than USD 167 million towards the cost of the first group of projects, while the borrowers will provide more than USD 136 million.
The bank said that reflows from the initial batch will be relent to finance about two additional batches of similar projects, each with an investment requirement of about USD 500 million.
Shaanxi Province is a large producer of coal, oil and natural gas, and is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for feedstock and energy, ADB noted.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.943)
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