WASHINGTON, April 10 (NNN-ANGOP): The World Bank on Thursday approved a controversial $3.75 billion loan to develop a coal-fired power plant in South Africa despite the lack of support from the United States, Netherlands and Britain.
The countries, all major donors to the World Bank, said they abstained from supporting the loan for South African state power utility Eskom due to environmental and other concerns.
Eskom has defended the 4,800 megawatt Medupi plant in the northern Limpopo region, saying there is no immediate alternative to easing the country’s chronic power shortages and ensuring power supplies to neighboring states.
It is the first World Bank loan approved for South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The U.S. Treasury said it abstained due to “concerns about the climate impact of the project and its incompatibility with the World Bank’s commitment to be a leader in climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
It urged the World Bank to increase its support for clean energy projects and cautioned that it should not propose similar coal projects in middle-income countries without a plan that ensures there is no net increase in carbon emissions.
A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman said it had advised its representative at the World Bank to abstain, citing concerns that not enough is being done to develop alternatives to coal.
-NNN-ANGOP
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