The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and China Gas Holdings Ltd. (CGH) signed a $20 million private-sector loan agreement to support natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) deliveries to households, hospitals, industry, and services crucial to the ongoing response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the post-pandemic recovery in Wuhan and other affected areas in Hubei province, the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
CGH is currently the main supplier of natural gas and LPG to households and commercial and industrial users in Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, and provides clean energy services to more than 3 million end-users in Hubei province. It is the only company with the logistical capacity to maintain stable supplies of LPG to Wuhan city through inland waterways using vessels from its port in coastal Zhejiang province. Its broad operational footprint makes it critical to the pandemic response in the PRC by providing essential supplies of LPG and natural gas to affected areas.
“ADB’s support will help ensure the uninterrupted supply of essential energy services to cities in Hubei province and further limit the toll of the pandemic on human and economic health,” said ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Director-General Mike Barrow. “The assistance will help cover short-term financing needs and enhance the resilience of cities to continue the fight against COVID-19.”
A transport lockdown implemented in Hubei province to contain the outbreak made it difficult to ensure last-mile delivery of gas to households for daily hot water, cooking, hospital needs, industry, and other commercial uses. The outskirts of cities are more severely affected because many of these areas are not connected to city gas distribution networks. CGH has maintained gas supplies to ensure uninterrupted service to existing customers and to make gas available for new needs on an expedited basis during the emergency response and recovery.
Find more about ADB’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Original source: ADB
Published on 31 March 2020
