AIIB to fund Central Asia's largest wind power plant in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's Zhanatas wind power plant, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, will get loans of 46.7 million U.S. dollars from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The 100 megawatt wind power plant, located in south Kazakhstan's Zhambyl Region, is the first project funded by the AIIB in Kazakhstan.

Upon completion, it will deliver electricity of approximately 319 GWh per year, according to a statement by Zhanatas Wind-Power Station Limited Liability Partnership, adding that the project is expected to meet the electricity demand of about 1 million households, effectively alleviating power supply pressures in southern Kazakhstan.

The plant, whose total cost is estimated at 136.2 million U.S. dollars, is operated by China Power International Holding Limited, a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation.

According to an AIIB project summary, the AIIB will provide the wind farm with 46.7 million dollars of loans, and the rest is to be funded by the sponsors and other financial institutions. The last disbursement of loans for construction should be granted no later than August 2020.

Construction of the wind farm began in July 2019 and is expected to be put into operation next year.