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China Development Bank pledges loan for 240MW Loznica Thermal Power Station Project

€230M EUR

Funder	China Development Bank (CDB)
Recipient Organization	Serbia Ministry of Energy
Country	Serbia
Start Date	Jun 08, 2016
End Date	Feb 04, 2031
Duration	5,354 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`53089`

Grant Description

China Development Bank pledges loan for 240MW Loznica Thermal Power Station Project In 2016, China Development Bank (CDB) agreed in principle to issue a Sinosured-backed loan for the 240MW Loznica Thermal Power Station Project.

The proceeds of this loan, if approved, would be used to finance an EPC contract worth EUR 231 million between Scarborough Group International — a UK real estate firm owned by Kevin McCabe — and China National Electric Engineering (CNEEC) in order to develop a new combined cycle natural gas-fueled heat and power plant project (with a planned capacity of 240 megawatts) in an industrial area within the city of Loznica.

The EPC contract was signed on June 8, 2016. The project would be implemented in two phases.

The first phase of the project (120 MW of the total capacity) was originally expected to reach completion by the end of 2018. The second phase of the project (the remaining 120 MW) was slated to begin in 2019.

The ultimate aim of the project was to convert an obsolete set of coal-fired plants into natural gas facility, thereby reducing Serbia's dependency on imported electricity.

The project site is situated at the crossroads of key high voltage electrical transmission lines and is adjacent to international gas pipelines, giving it the ability to both supply the domestic market and export power to other countries in South and Central Eastern Europe.

📋 Staff Comments

As of December 2020, the Overseas Development Finance Dataset and the China Global Energy Database published by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center both identified a $230 million China Development Bank loan commitment for the 240MW Loznica Thermal Power Station Project. However, AidData has not identified any evidence a final loan agreement with China Development Bank was ever approved. Nor has AidData identified any evidence that this project ever entered implementation. Therefore, this project is status-coded as Pipeline: Pledge rather than Pipeline: Commitment.

📚 Sources & References

China’s Global Energy Finance: Chinese Development Bank (CDB) and Export-Import Bank of China (Ex-Im) 2018
China's Global Energy Finance: 2016: Serbia
British-Chinese Joint Investment In Loznica Thermal Power Plant
Scarborough Group and CNEEC sign EPC agreement for heat and power plant project in Serbia
Anglo-Chinese tie-up backs €230m Serbian power plant
The Anglo-Chinese Consortium Building a Thermal Power Plant in Loznica
China's Financing in Latin America and the Carribean
Anglo-Chinese tie-up backs €230m Serbian power plant, 2*120MW Power Plant Project in Loznica
Serbia Reach Agreement and Sign EPC Contract
China's Overseas Development Finance
BU_PITCH_ENGLISH_2019-clean5.xlsx Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.