The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development arranged a financing package of up to €17.5 million for the acquisition of up to 50 new trolleybuses in Ukraine's Lviv city, the bank announced Monday.
The package consists of a 13-year EBRD loan of up to €15 million and a loan of up to €2.5 million provided by the Clean Technology Fund.
The funding, which is supported by the EU-funded Municipal Project Support Facility, will be made available to the municipal public transport company Lvivelectrotrans, which operates 10 trolleybus routes with a total length of almost 75 kilometers in the city, the bank said.
The project will finance the acquisition of up to 50 new trolleybuses as well as cover the maintenance equipment, the rehabilitation and modernization of two electric transport depots and the catenary network.
According to the EBRD, the upgrade is expected to reduce electricity consumption by approximately 20 percent and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1,907 tonnes annually.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr