A new environmentally-friendly and energy efficient Wastewater Treatment Plant that will provide improved sewerage services to 40,000 inhabitants was inaugurated in Orhei. The Plant uses Constructed Wetlands technology that has lower maintenance and operation costs than traditional technology. Initial investment costs amounted to approximately US$5.5 million, a part of the money being allocated by the World Bank, IPN reports.

According to a press release from the WB, Constructed Wetlands technology is to date successfully applied in many countries around the world but has not been implemented until now in the region. The Plant is the first to use such environmentally-friendly technology in Eastern Europe and the largest such facility in the whole of Europe.

”The plant’s increased energy efficiency and reduced emissions will mean reduced operations and maintenance costs for the city, and generation of savings that can be directed toward other municipal needs,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, who was present at the inauguration.

The Plant’s construction was funded from the Regional Development and Social Protection Grant (US$2.9 million), financed by the European Union, the Ministry of Environment’s National Ecological Fund (US$ 2.2 million) and the National Water Supply and Sanitation Project (US$0.4 million), financed by the World Bank. Since Moldova joined the World Bank in 1992, over US$1 billion has been allocated to 49 operations in the country. Currently, the World Bank portfolio includes 11 active projects with total commitments of US$205.7 million.