EBRD to support biomass project in Ukraine

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting a new biomass-fired power plant to be built in Ukraine by Biogasenergo, a subsidiary of EIG Engineering.

The project involves the development, construction and operation of the facility, which will burn 210,000 tonnes of woodchips for the production of 18MW of power.

To be built in Ivankiv in Kiev the biomass facility is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2014, when all the renewable electricity generated will be sold to the national grid to power local homes.

The plant is financed by the EBRD's Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility, an investment programme of €70 million – €50 million from the EBRD and €20 million from the Clean Technology Fund – designed to provide finance to private local enterprises wanting to invest in renewable energy projects in Ukraine. Technical assistance for project preparation and for regulatory and environmental assessment is funded by the Global Environmental Facility.

Implementation of this biomass project will mark the beginning of a large-scale investment programme by EIG Engineering. Following a successful programme inception, the company plans to develop up to five similar biomass-fired power plants with an aggregate capacity of 50MW, all of them in regions of northern Ukraine that are rich in wood waste.

The EBRD is the largest financial investor in Ukraine. As of 1 August the Bank had committed over €8.55 billion across 327 projects in Ukraine.