The population of Bacau will benefit from a €11 million loan provided by the EBRD and the Green Energy Special Fund (GESF) to modernize street lighting in the Romanian city. The funds will be split with €6 million coming from the EBRD and €5 million from GESF.

Bacau is a medium-sized city in Romania with a population of almost 200,000. The investment plan includes the installation of LED technology on 60 streets in priority areas of the city center, covering up to 40 kilometers. The new lights will make the areas safer and cut energy usage and CO2 emissions by 50 per cent.

The project will replace mercury bulbs with energy efficient LED lights, upgrade old lighting poles and develop an underground network of cables, allowing old aerial cables to be removed.

The introduction of more efficient lighting will also benefit the city economically. It is expected that the new lamps will halve the current lighting electricity costs, as well as reduce maintenance and operational costs by more than a quarter.

The lighting project in Bacau is part of the EBRD Street Lighting Framework, which is also funding energy efficient LED lighting in Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

The EBRD is also engaged in Bacau by financing, together with the European Union (EU), the upgrading of the regional water and waste management systems.

GESF is a fund established by TaiwanICDF at the EBRD to support beneficiary countries in the Bank’s regions as they make the transition to low-carbon energy solutions, as well as to promote energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy.

Since the EBRD started operations in Romania, the Bank has invested over €8 billion in more than 400 projects in the country.