New loan of $us 35 million from the IDB will promote energy efficiency in public lighting

This Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy release was published using machine translation.

UCOM MHE 02-15-2024.- The Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy highlights the recent approval of the $35 million loan granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which will finance the program aimed at the development of energy efficiency in the public lighting systems in the country, which will help decarbonize the Bolivian electrical system.

The purpose of the program is to reduce consumption and expenditure on electrical energy in public lighting systems by replacing conventional luminaires with LED technology and incorporating digital technologies, which will benefit more than 800,000 people in the participating municipalities, improving the quality of public lighting efficiently.

Likewise, the report indicates that municipal governments will also benefit from the training of their technical personnel and an estimated savings of 50% in the cost of public lighting service, derived from lower electricity consumption and operating costs. In addition, the project will also benefit women, people with disabilities and indigenous communities, who will participate in workshops and training programs.

The program plans to reduce energy consumption, promote the transition towards more efficient technologies, such as LED lighting, properly manage waste and digitize management systems. This will not only strengthen the capacities of municipal governments, but will also promote social inclusion.

The executing agency of the program is the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy (MHE), through the Program Execution Unit (UEP) of the Vice Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (VMEER).

The $35 million loan granted by the IDB has a repayment term of 20 years, a grace period of 10 years and an interest rate based on SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate).