France to provide €46m for power projects
ISLAMABAD:
France has announced that it will provide a €46 million loan for buying 10 million energy savers and rehabilitating a power plant in order to promote energy efficiency and enhance its supply in the backdrop of electricity outages.
French Ambassador to Islamabad, Daniel Jouanneau, on Friday said that his country will provide a loan of €20 million for the bulbs and €26 million for rehabilitation of Jabban Power Plant in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The power plant with a 22-megawatt generation capacity has been shut since 2006 after a fire badly damaged it. “France is committed to assisting Pakistan’s energy sector,” said the French ambassador.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Sibtain Fazal Halim and Jouanneau signed an agreement for the €20 million loan for the purchase of compact fluorescent lamps also known as energy savers.
Sibtain said the loan was part of a $980 million Pakistan Energy Investment Programme. He said France will provide $200 million for the programme while the remaining will be lent by the Asian Development Bank.
The government has planned to save 1,100MW of electricity by replacing 100-watt bulbs with 23-watt energy savers. The government will distribute 30 million energy savers among households throughout the country. Total cost of distributing the 30 million bulbs is €61 million or $85 million. The project will also help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around one million tons annually.
The ambassador said France is committed to providing €300 million, which it promised in 2009 at the Donors’ Conference in Japan. He said talks for €120 million were going on and money will soon be available.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2010.
France has announced that it will provide a €46 million loan for buying 10 million energy savers and rehabilitating a power plant in order to promote energy efficiency and enhance its supply in the backdrop of electricity outages.
French Ambassador to Islamabad, Daniel Jouanneau, on Friday said that his country will provide a loan of €20 million for the bulbs and €26 million for rehabilitation of Jabban Power Plant in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The power plant with a 22-megawatt generation capacity has been shut since 2006 after a fire badly damaged it. “France is committed to assisting Pakistan’s energy sector,” said the French ambassador.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Sibtain Fazal Halim and Jouanneau signed an agreement for the €20 million loan for the purchase of compact fluorescent lamps also known as energy savers.
Sibtain said the loan was part of a $980 million Pakistan Energy Investment Programme. He said France will provide $200 million for the programme while the remaining will be lent by the Asian Development Bank.
The government has planned to save 1,100MW of electricity by replacing 100-watt bulbs with 23-watt energy savers. The government will distribute 30 million energy savers among households throughout the country. Total cost of distributing the 30 million bulbs is €61 million or $85 million. The project will also help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around one million tons annually.
The ambassador said France is committed to providing €300 million, which it promised in 2009 at the Donors’ Conference in Japan. He said talks for €120 million were going on and money will soon be available.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2010.