Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 19, 2002
China's Power Project Gets 144-mln-dollar Loan from ADB
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) onFriday approved a loan of 144 million US dollars to help the construction of a 774.9-million-dollar worth pumped storage power plant in China's Hebei province.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) onFriday approved a loan of 144 million US dollars to help the construction of a 774.9-million-dollar worth pumped storage power plant in China's Hebei province.
The Hebei Zhanghewan Pumped Storage Project will reduce power shortages and inefficiencies as well as promote economic growth inthe area, the bank said in its press statement.
The project will include a 1,000-megawatt plant and a 63-km, 500-kilovolt transmission line.
The project will upgrade the rural electricity distribution network in 23 counties and close 20 old and inefficient coal-firedgeneration units.
Without the project, the growing peak demand will lead to severe load shedding by 2009, with serious consequences for economic growth and living standards, the bank said.
"The entire population of this area will benefit from more reliable power and consequent economic growth," says Bo Lin, ADB senior project economist, "More than 18 percent of the population in the project area live below the poverty line and these will have access to more affordable electricity and also to drinking water and irrigation."
The project will creat 81,500 jobs directly during implementation and an estimated 92,800 a year indirectly.
ADB's loan will be from its ordinary capital resources with a 25-year term including a grace period of seven years. The Hebei Electric Power Corporation will be the executing agency for the project, which is scheduled for completion at end-June 2009.