The New Development Bank, a multilateral lender formerly known as the BRICS Development Bank, will provide $811 million in a first round of loans for green energy projects in four nations. The New Development Bank, which started in Shanghai last year, is made up of BRICS member nations – Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa. The bank has said clean energy will be part of its core focus.
Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social will receive the biggest credit, worth $300 million to help build 600MW of renewable energy capacity, the New Development Bank said in an e-mail reply to questions. The bank will also provide a $250 million loan to India’s Canara Bank, with $75 million earmarked for 500 MW of renewable-energy projects.
South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. also secured a loan of $180 million for power lines that can transmit 670 megawatts and transform 500MW of renewable energy generation. China’s Shanghai Lingang Hongbo New Energy Development Co. also got an $81 million loan, approved by the bank’s board of directors last week, to fund 100MW of rooftop solar power.
The loans will run 12 to 20 years. More plans are at various stages of consideration in the development bank’s pipeline, including loans to Russia, according to the e-mail.
Source: renewableenergyworld