The U.S. Export-Import Bank is weighing funding for a massive coal-fired power plant in India, going against the administration policy to scale back financing of coal plants overseas.
The Ex-Im Bank board voted in December to adopt new guidelines restricting funding of plants except in the poorest countries. The guidelines are in line with President Obama’s policy, which is a part of his climate agenda, Reuters reports.
{mosads}We are currently reviewing the application, which we received last month, to determine if it satisfies our criteria of ‘reasonable assurance of repayment’ and to ensure that it adheres to our environmental and other policies,” an Ex-Im official said, according to Reuters.
In January the Ex-Im Bank temporarily suspended enforcement of the ban on financing carbon-intensive projects abroad until September.
The suspension came after a measure of the House appropriations bill sought to derail the administration climate plan, which created an avenue for the India plant to apply for a loan guarantee.
The coal plant is a 4,000 megawatt power plant connected to coal mines in Jharkhand, India. It would add 100,000 megawatts of electric generation by 2017, but a number of residents surrounding the mines and power plant are protesting it.