Japan funds $100m for environmental and renewable loan program in Costa Rica
Miravalles V - Ormat unit, Costa Rica (source: Ormat Technologies)
Alexander Richter
6 Jun 2013
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) provides $100 million towards banking loan program for local banks to lower interest rates for renewable energy projects and sustainable transportation.
News from Costa Rica report that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will provide $ 100 million for two state banks Costa Rica finance environmental projects to enable the country achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2021.
The funds will be distributed through different banks to allocate them for credits to customers of the bank. The banks are National Bank and State Bank of Costa Rica. The funding is for renewable energy projects and sustainable transport. So there might be some money available for work on geothermal activities and projects through the program.
Under the agreement with JBIC, the loans will have to have lower interest rates in order to promote renewable projects under the scope of the program.
“These funds will enable us to finance the change of the fleets of taxis and public transport buses as well as renewable energy projects, including solar panels, wind farms, hydroelectric plants, among other technologies to move towards carbon neutrality,” noted the Environment Minister René Castro. Costa Rica has committed to be carbon neutral by 2021.”
Source: The Costa Rica News
