The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is committing funds to rehabilitate district heating system in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and reduce the environmental impact of the municipal utility in the city’s first project under the EBRD Green Cities programme.

A financing package of up to US$10 million, consisting of a US$ 5 million sovereign loan and a US$ 5 million grant, will be provided to the District Heating Company of Dushanbe. The package will be used to rehabilitate and extend the existing district heating network and to rehabilitate pumping stations.

As part of the project, Dushanbe will introduce – for the first time in Tajikistan – apartment level metering on pilot basis and procure operational and maintenance machinery and other specialised equipment.

The EBRD Green Cities is providing Dushanbe with support to develop a Green City Action Plan (GCAP), the key tool helping cities articulate their sustainable development vision and strategic objectives as well as actions and investments to address priority environmental issues. With a population of over 800,000 Dushanbe is the largest municipality in Tajikistan. The EBRD’s Stakeholders Special Fund finances the development of the Dushanbe GCAP.

Upon implementation, the project will have a significant climate impact by reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 39,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent and achieving annual water savings of around 100,000 cubic metres.

The project is part of the EBRD’s recently announced plan to scale up its climate and environmental finance and make more than 50 per cent of its annual investment green by 2025.

The EBRD Green Cities programme, set up in 2016, is now supporting 45 cities across the Bank’s countries of operations with the aim of reaching 100 by 2024. It has to date secured more than €2.5 billion of the Bank’s own resources as well as concessional and technical cooperation funding provided by donors.

To date, the EBRD has invested €731 million through 139 projects in Tajikistan’s economy.