KfW signs US$8.7mn loan for Galapagos project

German development bank KfW signed an US$8.7mn loan in mid-September to Ecuador's mines and energy ministry and the power utility serving the Galapagos islands for a renewable energy program, the bank said in a statement. The e7 Fund for Sustainable Development signed a memorandum of understanding in April with Ecuador's government to install wind and solar turbines in the Galapagos. Efforts were made to replace the islands' thermoelectric power generation after a tanker delivering fuel to the environmentally sensitive islands ran aground in January 2001. Project plans are to generate 1.8MW on San Cristobal island, displacing more than 50% of the diesel-fired generation. Equipment delivery is expected to start in 2004, with first generation in 2005.