NIB signs 20-year loan programme with the City of Bergen, Norway to improve its wastewater

Bergen, Norway, 17-Jun-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — NIB has signed a 20-year loan programme with the City of Bergen, Norway, to improve its wastewater-, and possibly, drinking water infrastructure.

The loan programme consists of two tranches, of which a NOK 1,000 million loan has been provided to finance an upgrade of the wastewater treatment system in Bergen, with an option to later agree on a NOK 500 million tranche to improve quality and distribution of the city’s drinking water.

The first tranche will finance three of Bergen’s four wastewater treatment facilities located in caverns at Holen, Kvernevik and Flesland. The first two became operational in 2015, and Flesland will be commissioned in 2016.

The new plants will increase the treatment capacity to accommodate a growing population. The city’s upgraded wastewater collection system will also help separate storm water from sewage and thus decrease the risk of overflows during periods of heavy rain.

The first loan tranche will also help finance the city’s biogas facility at the Rådal waste incinerator facility. The biogas investment will improve the efficiency of the region’s wastewater treatment and provide local renewable fuel options for, for instance, public transportation. The predicted amount of biogas to be generated at full capacity is 22.8 GWh annually. That would be enough to fuel up to 80 public buses annually.

Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, with a population of around 278,000. The local economy is prosperous and fairly diversified. The main sectors are oil and gas, the maritime industry, fishing and seafood. Tourism has emerged as an industry in recent years, with about 500,000 visitors and 350 cruise ships annually.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Ms Kersti Talving, Senior Manager, Origination, at +358 10 618 0245,
Kersti.Talving@nib.int

Mr Arild Moen, Senior Communications Officer, at +358 10 618 0496,
arild.moen@nib.int

###

Wastewater treatment plant visit hosted by project leader Kristine Akervold for NIB’s Senior Environmental Analyst Magnus Andersson. Photo: Kersti Talving