World Bank Co-finances New Hydraulic System at Kosovo A TPP

The World Bank said it has co-financed with 1.0 million euro ($1.4 million) the replacement of the open system of ash transport at the Kosovo A coal-fired power station with a new closed hydraulic system which reduces air pollution.

The new hydraulic system converts the ash into wet ash slurry and transports it from the power plant into an exhausted mine underground. It is one of several environmental improvements worth a total of 40 million euro made by the Kosovo Energy Corporation, KEK, the World Bank said in a statement on Friday, quoting KEK managing director Arben Gjukaj.

The remainder of the investment in the closed hydraulic system has been covered by KEK, which is deriving not only environmental but also economic benefits from this investment, increasing the security of energy supply, the Bank said.

The support was part of the Kosovo Energy Sector Clean-Up and Land Reclamation Project. The project has been supported with $13.65 million, consisting of World Bank grant funding of $10.5 million and a contribution from KEK of $3.15 million. Activities were also supported by a grant of around $3.81 million from the government of the Netherlands. In May 2013, the World Bank approved an additional financing of $4.2 million in credit to continue addressing environmental issues, remove any remaining hazardous chemicals from the old gasification site, and build capacity for environmental good practices in the mining and energy sector. The support was again being accompanied by a separate grant from the government of the Netherlands of around $1.13 million.

According to the statement, the World Bank is preparing several new activities and projects in the energy sector in Kosovo, including in energy efficiency and renewable energy, rehabilitation of the Iber-Lepenc Canal, with a view to ensuring water security in central Kosovo, and facilitation of a state-of-the-art replacement investment in power generation with a partial risk guarantee.

Source: SeeNews