On 11 June 2017, the Loan Agreement between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and "Burnoe Solar-2" LLP was signed within the framework of the Ministerial Conference and the Eighth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development with the purpose to implement the project on expansion of the current solar power plant "Burnoe" from 50 MW to 100 MW in Zhambyl Oblast.

The project’s implementation is aimed at providing Kazakhstan with safe, reliable and environmentally friendly electrical power through the use of solar energy. Implementation of the project will enable the expansion of the current solar power plant "Burnoe" from 50 MW to 100 MW and increase net power generation up to 146 million kWh per year. The "Burnoe" solar power plant will become one of the largest facilities of renewable energy sources in the CIS after commissioning in the second quarter of 2018.

The total amount of investments within the project constitutes 26 billion tenge, and the project is also funded at the own expense of "Samruk-Kazyna Invest" LLP and British partner of the UG Energy Limited in the amount of 7.8 billion tenge.

Signing of the Loan Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will enable to attract the long-term debt financing in the amount of 14.9 billion tenge and dent financing from Clean Technology Fund in the amount of 10 million US dollars. It is noteworthy that that signing the Loan Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is implemented within the framework of project financing, which does not require additional hard pledge and financial guarantees from project sponsors.

The Agreement on Cooperation and Support to the Project between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the RoK Ministry of Energy and "Burnoe Solar-2" LLP that is aimed at entrenching key provisions of legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of renewable energy sources, will also be signed within the framework of signing the Loan Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Implementation of the project will enable to continue the initiated course on Kazakhstan’s transition to "green economy" and will be conducive to the increased level of energy production from renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan to 3% by 2020; enable to begin construction of the facility in the course of EXPO-2017, attract direct foreign investments to Kazakhstan in the amount of 12 million US dollars, create more than 300 temporary and 10 permanent jobs, and increase attraction of modern "clean" technologies to the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Information on partners:

"Samruk-Kazyna Invest" LLP is an investment company comprising part of the "Samruk-Kazyna" JSC holding. The main activity of the company is implementation of direct investments into Kazakhstan's companies jointly with strategic partners and/or institutional investors contributing to the development and modernization of Kazakhstan's economy.

The "UG Energy Limited" company is 100% subsidiary of the United Green (hereinafter: the UG). The UG company has a great experience in the field of renewable energy sources. The UG has been investing in wind and solar power since 2008. The aggregate power of projects in the field of implemented RES constitutes more than 300 MW with a total value of 1.3 billion US dollars, including more than 300 million US dollars of own capital.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is an international financial institution, which founder’s composition includes 65 countries, EU and EIB. The EBRD was created in 1990 to facilitate transition of Eastern Europe countries to market economy. Currently, the EBRD operates in more than 30 countries of the world – from Central Africa to Central Asia. The EBRD has invested 7.3 billion euros in Kazakhstan, including more than 1 billion euros in "clean energy" projects. The bank is the biggest financier of renewable energy in its operation area.

The Clean Technology Fund is a part of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the multi-donor trust fund established in 2008 and managed by the World Bank. The objective of the CIF is to provide expanded funding to projects pertaining to climate change in developing countries, so that fundamental changes in support of climate-sustainable, low-carbon development can be initiated.