Three-year project funded by IDB, Germany’s KfW, OFID
PORT-AU-PRINCE – The government of Haiti today signed a contract with the French consortium Alstom-Comelex to restore the Péligre hydroelectric plant, the country’s principal renewable energy source.
The Inter-American Development Bank, the German development finance agency KfW and OFID, OPEC’s fund for international development, are providing the funds to finance the three-year, $48.8 million rehabilitation contract.
The contract was signed by Public Works Minister Jacques Rousseau, Finance Minister André Georges, Électricité d’Haïti Director General Gary Valdemar and Alstom managers Olivier Richer and Marc-Antoine Blond at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance.
Under the project, Péligre will recover its original 54 MW installed generation capacity by overhauling its three turbines and modernizing its electromechanical equipment and control systems. At present the 40-year-old plant operates at a fraction of its potential, forcing Haiti to rely on thermal generators that run on expensive imported fossil fuels.
At the same time as it restores Péligre’s generation capacity, state utility EdH will carry out investments to upgrade the power transmission line connecting the hydroelectric plant with Port-au-Prince as well the capital’s electricity distribution network. The IDB is supporting such investments with grants totaling $32 million.
In addition, in partnership with the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Aid, the IDB is supporting a program to modernize EdH’s technical, financial and commercial management.
The IDB is Haiti’s leading multilateral donor. Since the 2010 earthquake it has approved $442 million in new grants and disbursed more than $355 million to support reconstruction and long-term development projects in key sectors such as energy, education, water and sanitation, agriculture, transport and private sector development.