The solar power plant has 303 000 polysilicon panels. Each of them generates 330 watts. A dozen of these solar panels can provide electricity to a cottage. But the entire station is capable of supplying electricity to a small town. Today the solar station employs 25 people. But during the construction period, more than five hundred Kazakhstani specialists and 11 domestic construction companies were involved here.
“Financing projects in the energy sector, including in the field of renewable energy sources, is in line with the DBK's mandate. The Bank's loan portfolio currently has 5 projects in the field of renewable energy sources – «Zhylga» photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 20 MW in Turkestan region of LLP «EcoProTech-Astana» (EcoProTech-Astana), «Nurgisa» solar power plant with a capacity of 100 MW near Kapshagai city of LLP «Eneverse KunKuat», construction of Turgusun hydroelectric power station in the East Kazakhstan region and the hydroelectric power plant in Almaty region of LLP «Baskan Power», as well as the wind power plant «Astana Expo-2017» with a capacity of 50 MW near the capital in the village of Kostomar. The project of LLP «Eneverse KunKuat» and LLP «EcoProTech-Astana» were financed by the method of project financing, which is currently actively used by the Bank,” said Bauyrzhan Amanbekov, acting senior banker of the Customer service department.
The cost of the project amounted to 27.7 billion tenge, 10 billion - a loan from DBK for 10 years and leasing financing of the Bank's subsidiary structure - JSC «Industrial Development Fund» - 6.5 billion tenge for a period of 8 years.
“Development Bank of Kazakhstan, having familiarized with our business plan, provided support and became a participant in this construction. We also applied to other banks for financing, but it was Development Bank of Kazakhstan that trusted us, and I believe that the bank was not mistaken in its choice. The station has shown itself to be excellent, our plan is 144 million kilowatt hours, we have already produced 140 million kilowatt hours, "said Almaz Baydildin, Managing Diector of the «Nurgisa 100 MW» solar station.
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As a rule, development institutions participate in RES projects under the project of financing scheme.
DBK actively uses this financing model, providing favorable terms for project financing: the minimum loan amount is 7 billion tenge, the maximum loan term is up to 20 years, the amount of the company's own participation is at least 30% of the cost of the investment project according to the estimate. Important point is that financing is provided in tenge, which is critical for a project whose cash flows are also denominated in tenge.
The project of financing model is as follows: investors lend to the project on the condition that the main source of payment of borrowed funds are cash flows from the project implementation. This format allows, on the one hand, to create a large financial leverage (the share of borrowed funds to equity), which allows the owner of a capital-intensive project to implement it with a small amount of own funds. On the other hand, the lender in this model gains more control over the implementation of the project.
