Emission control

Bakony Power’s Hungarian Ajka plant needed a vital upgrade, but bank loansand bond issues were not forthcoming. Now forward sales of carbon credits havegiven the plant a death-row pardon. By James Ockenden

It was a venture capitalist’s nightmare. The business plan for plantupgrade and efficiency improvement at a Hungarian power company required a certaininvestment. Without it, the plant was likely to close. But a solution came – andit was from a rather more innovative source than the usual investor roadshows,hawking for bonds or pleading with banks to raise the funds required. The bulkof the project