MANILA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kazakhstan regarding the possible early retirement of a coal plant under the bank's energy transition mechanism (ETM) program.
Under the MoU signed at COP29 by the ADB and the Kazakhstan Ministry of Energy in Baku, Azerbaijan, the two sides will work toward a pilot transaction that demonstrates a pathway to significantly reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
"This could be done through decommissioning or repurposing a pilot coal plant for renewables or other low-carbon energy technologies," the ADB said in its press release, adding that a feasibility study will determine which, among a selection of coal-fired power generation, combined heat and power plants, and heat-only boilers identified in the pre-feasibility study and other analyses, could be the most viable for early retirement.
The ADB said Kazakhstan is a major consumer of coal, with some 25 billion tons of reserves estimated to be the eighth largest worldwide.
About 70 percent of the nation's electricity is produced from coal, while energy-related activity, including heat and electricity production, accounts for more than 80 percent of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions, the ADB added.
The ETM is a scalable, replicable program that uses concessional and commercial capital to retire or repurpose existing coal and other fossil fuel plants on an accelerated schedule, replacing them with clean power capacity, the Manila-based bank said. ■
