Germany's KfW-IPEX Bank has become the country's first lender to join the Responsible Ship Recycling Standards Initiative, which aims to include scrapping clauses in accordance with international standards into loan agreements.
The clauses also include an obligation for shipping companies to make sure that all ships carry a "green passport" to provide an overview of all hazardous materials on board.
The initiative now has eight members, including Nordea, ING, and Export Credit Norway.
The Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC) - comprised of YAATRA Ventures, Baker Hughes, a GE company, LionWorks Group, and Saipem - signed a project framework agreement confirming its selection for the realisation of a 60,000 barrels per day capacity refinery with a project estimated value of around $3 billion.
The refinery, in Hoima district, will process crude oil from fields developed by Total, Tullow, and China's CNOOC and future upstream operators. The Ugandan government has included in the project scope a refined-product pipeline to Kampala for transporting finished products from the facility as well as the distribution of refined products.
Sponsors of the $3.9 billion 700MW CSP solar project in Dubai – Acwa Power and Shanghai Electric – are near to signing the project debt backing the world’s largest thermal solar farm to date.
Kayan Hydro Energy (KHE) has signed an MoU with Power Construction Corporation of China to develop a 900MW hydro power project on the Kayan River in the Indonesian part of Borneo. China Power completed feasibility studies and preliminary designs in 2013 and believes there is scope for a further five dams generating up to 11GW of capacity. Investment in all phases of the scheme would be around $18 billion with most of the financing supplied by China.
Denmark's Energy, Supply and Climate Minister has announced the intention by the government to select a developer for a 800MW offshore wind project by 2021. It is intended to locate up to 75 turbines 50km offshore and complete the project without subsidy aside from the transmission connection costs. This development would play a central role of achieving the government's target of 50% renewable energy by 2030.
Vinci Airports is to acquire a portfolio of nine airports in the US, UK, Costa Rica and Sweden from Airports Worldwide. The portfolio includes sole freehold ownership of Belfast International Airport and a 91% stake in Skavsta Airport near Stockholm, Sweden. Concessions at three airports include Orlando-Sanford International Airport in Florida with a residual term of 21 years, a 48.75% stake in Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose and a 45% stake in Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia. The latter two are both located in Costa Rica and have residual terms of eight and 13 years respectively. In addition Vinci will take over the full management contracts at Hollywood Burbank Airport, Ontario International Airport, Macon Downtown Airport and Middle Georgia Regional Airport and partial management contracts at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey, Raleigh Durham International Airport in North Carolina, and part of the international terminal at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ardian has agreed to sell its 49% stake in London Luton Airport (LLA) that it acquired in 2013 to the Australian investment manager AMP Capital. Airport operator Aena will retain its 51% majority holding.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and Saldehco have signed an agreement for the development of facilities supporting the marine and ocean services for offshore oil and gas activities at the Port of Saldanha. The port is located northwest of Cape Town and is South Africa's largest natural anchorage.
European Energy has reached financial close on its 39MW Bosco Le Piane wind farm located in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Norddeutsche Landesbank (NORD/LB) and Siemens Financial Services provided the financing for the 13-turbine project with commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2018.
NTR has acquired the 28MW Aeolus wind project located in County Mayo, Ireland for €50 million as its final acquisition on behalf of the NTR Wind 1 LP fund portfolio. The fund was launched in 2015 and is backed by NTR plc, Legal & General Capital, Strathclyde Pension Fund and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
Following a competitive procurement process, the Ghanaian government organisation Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has selected a Meralco-led consortium of the Philippines as preferred bidder to manage the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The 20-year concession will be 51% Ghanaian-owned as outlined in the government's Private Sector Participation (PSP) agreement. The US independent foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will invest about $418 million into ECG with Meralco supplying an additional $500 million.
KGAL Group has signed a voltage ancillary service contract with the transmission system operator RTE, with its Seine Rive gauche Nord Wind Farm providing reactive power on a flexible basis to stabilise the transmission network. This is the first such contract for RTE with a French wind farm.
Eoly, Parkwind and Fluxys are collaborating on a project to establish an industrial-scale green power-to-gas facility in Belgium. The project would compensate for variability of offshore wind energy by producing green hydrogen as carbon-free fuel or feedstock alternative that can be transported and stored in the existing natural gas infrastructure.
The Loan Market Association (LMA) has launched a new recommended form of facility agreement for use in export finance buyer credit transactions supported by an export credit agency.
The ECA Buyer Credit Facility is focused on the European market, with major European ECAs, such as SACE, Euler Hermes, UK Export Finance, Finnvera, EKF, SEK, Credendo and CESCE, involved.
The Japanese government said it will promote the exports of US liquefied natural gas to Asian countries to help slash Washington's trade deficit. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will offer loans for the construction of LNG shipment hubs. The US has been producing increasing volumes of LNG, while Asia sees rising demand of the gas used for electric power generation.
Japanese trading house Itochu is pulling out of a 4,500MW nuclear power plant project in Sinop, Turkey, over a surge in safety-related costs. The move casts uncertainty over the plant's future as well as the Japanese government's infrastructure export ambitions.
A consortium including Itochu and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had been conducting a feasibility study. Initially, 30% of the project's cost was planned to be covered by the consortium and 70% by loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other lenders. The consortium was expected to be 51% owned by Mitsubishi Heavy, Itochu and French electric utility Engie, and 49% by others entities, including the Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation.
President Donald Trump has tapped Jeffrey Gerrish to be acting president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Gerrish, who recently joined the Trump administration, will maintain his role at the Office of the US Trade Representative while taking the US Ex-Im role.
The designation by Trump as acting president does not require congressional approval. The agency has been without a quorum - needing at least three members of a five-member board - since late 2015 and is unable to approve loans of more than $10 million.
The Asian Development Bank saw commitments - loans, grants, and investments - hit $20.1 billion last year, up from $13.3 billion in 2016.
The increase was helped by the bank merging its concessional Asian Development Fund lending operations with the ordinary capital resources balance sheet.
The energy sector was the biggest recipient, with $10.89 billion, while the South Asia region saw the most funds with $10.65 billion.
The Nordic Investment Bank has signed a €16 million, ten-year loan with the Swedish municipality of Karlskrona to finance the expansion of the local fibre optic network and investments in water and wastewater management.
The expansion of the local water network in Karlskrona will support the sustainable supply of freshwater and enable effective distribution to around 465 households.
The funds will also be used to increase access to fibre-based broadband internet in the municipality, which contributes to the implementation of Sweden's national digitalisation strategy.
Brazilian development bank BNDES has reported a 26% drop in loan disbursements to 11.2 billion reais in the first quarter of the year, while loan approvals increased 11% to 16 billion reais. The lender says 54% of disbursements were for small and middle-sized companies.
State-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) is expected to receive bids on 1 June 2018 for the construction of the 200MW Kom Ombo solar PV...
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency has appointed Subramaniam Vishwanathan Iyer as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He joins MIGA from mining group Rio Tinto, where he served as Managing Director in India for the past three years.
He worked at the World Bank between 1993 and 2015 and held various positions of increasing responsibility, including Sector Manager, Africa Energy; Director of Sustainable Energy and Extractives; and Senior Adviser, Infrastructure, South Asia Region.
BAE System is expected to continue its negotiation to supply 18 Euro fighter combat jets to the Malaysian government once the 14th General Election is concluded on 9 May. BAE MD for South-East Asia John Brosnan said the company currently offered a package for the deal that includes UK Export Finance-financing to its Malaysian counterpart.
"The financing scheme under the UK's export credit agency is very flexible. The Malaysian government probably would not need to pay anything for the first five years, if they want to. We can discuss on 10- or 20-year loan term depending on the government's need," Brosnan said.
Dutch development bank FMO has hired Peter van Mierlo as its new chief executive officer. He joins FMO from PwC where he was chairman of the board of management of PwC Netherlands and managing partner of PwC Europe. He succeeds Jürgen Rigterink, who left FMO earlier this month to continue his career at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Together with Linda Broekhuizen as chief investment officer, and chief risk & finance officer Fatoumata Bouaré, the appointment completes FMO's Management Board.
The First Group and Trenitalia joint venture that was shortlisted in 2017 by the Department for Transport (DfT) for the new East Midlands franchise has decided to withdraw from the competition in order to concentrate on its bid for the West Coast Partnership franchise. Arriva, Abellio and incumbent operator Stagecoach are still in the running for the franchise which is scheduled to start in August 2019.
The losing contractors in the Peljeski bridge and access roads tender are to file complaints against the state procurement authority DKOM in the Croatian High Court. DKOM rejected their previous complaints so Astaldi, Ictas and Strabag are independently seeking to delay the signing of the contract. The European consortia each bid between €343-349 million while the winning bid by China Road and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) was around €208 million. DKOM contends that there had been no violation of the tender rules and that the submission of unsustainably low prices was an issue for the European Commission. Potential legal delays to the project due to the court action may also jeopardise funding from the European Commission which is supplying 85% of the projects costs or €357 million through the EU's Cohesion Policy funds to build the bridge.
US Environmental Protection Agency has made the first loan from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) federal loan and guarantee programme to the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station project in King County, Washington. The $275 million project aims to collect and treat wastewater and stormwater that spills into the Duwamish River during heavy winter rains. WIFIA funding of up to $134.5 million will finance half the estimated costs of the project.
Texas-based CenterPoint Energy has announced that it will buy Indiana-based Vectren in a deal valued at more than $8 billion including $2.5 billion in Vectren debt. Vectren shareholders will receive $72 for each share representing a 10% premium over the April 20 closing price. The combined assets of the natural gas and electric utilities are valued at about $29 billion.
Costain has been awarded the surface element of the Front End Engineering Design for the Islandmagee underground gas storage project in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The project company Islandmagee Storage (IMSL), which is 90% owned by InfraStrata and 10% by Moyle Energy Investments, is developing eight caverns to store up to 500 million cubic meters of gas. Ireland receives most of its imports via a pipeine from Scotland and the EU is providing funding grant to provide energy security for the whole island.
Macquarie Atlas Roads (MQA) has announced the appointment from May 1 of Graeme Bevans as Chief Executive Officer to head the independent management team at MQA as it splits from Macquarie. Current CEO James Hooke will remain with Macquarie.
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed public sector loan agreements worth almost $200 million. The funds include $53.2 million in Egypt for the rehabilitation of irrigation and draining pump stations in a bid to raise agricultural production, and $20 million in Madagascar for the Inclusive Agriculture Transformation Program. The scheme aims to boost incomes and food security for around 1.6 million farmers via high-performing production systems adapted to climate change.
Irish social housing manager Oaklee Housing has agreed to a 25-year, €50 million facility with Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) to add 150 houses to its portfolio of 900 residential properties. The loan will be provided to special purpose vehicle Acorn that will fund the charity Oaklee.
Foresight Group has announced that it has acquired four operational onshore wind projects, all located in the UK and with a combined capacity of 83MW, from Belltown Power Limited. The assets comprise of a 24.6MW project in Powys, 50.4MW in Cheshire, 7.5MW in Sussex and 0.5MW in Cornwall. The Cheshire project is jointly shared with Peel Energy. Belltown also sold five solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 53MW to the Foresight Solar Fund Limited with Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions providing a long-term, fully amortising debt facility. Belltown will continue to act as the asset manager following the acquisition. Foresight was advised by Osborne Clarke (legal advisor), Everoze (technical advisor), EY (tax and financial advisor) and Willis Towers Watson (insurance). Belltown was advised by EY (financial adviser), Pinsent Masons (legal advisor), Wood (technical advisor), and supported on property legal matters by Eversheds, TLT and Burges Salmon.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), its private sector entity IDB Invest, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have formally expanded their partnership through a new memorandum of understanding. The agreement boosts their commitment to advance development in Latin America and the Caribbean through blended finance, co-financing, and knowledge sharing.
Italy's SACE SIMEST Hub mobilised €25.3 billion in resources to support the export and internationalisation of the country's companies in 2017 - the highest level reached in 40 years of activity and 41% higher than in 2016. Italian exports recorded a growth of 7.4% last year, more than Germany or France.
The European Investment Bank Group, formed by the EIB and European Investment Fund, have granted Spain's BBVA a €98 million guarantee, on a mezzanine tranche of a €1.95 billion portfolio, that will enable the provision of up to €600 million to finance new investment projects of small Spanish businesses.
Multi-billion dollar projects, more target countries, and more government support fuelled a 37% rebound in private sector investment in developing-country infrastructure projects, says the World Bank. But 2017 investment commitment levels remained 15% below the average for the past five years, the World Bank's 2017 Annual Update of the Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Database found.
Fifty-two developing countries received private investment in infrastructure in 2017, up from 37 in 2016. Also, 20 mega-projects - with an average size of $2.4 billion - accounted for 51% of the total investment, contributing to the increase over 2016 levels.
Wherever you are based and whichever region you cover, this is the export finance event you shouldn't miss! TXF Global 2018: Export & Agency Finance takes place in Prague on June 6 and 7. It is the perfect opportunity to meet with experts from around the world, all in one place.
Key attendees include:
Americas: Esteban Pérez Andrich, Ministry of Energy and Mining, Argentina
Africa: Basil El Bas, CEO, Carbon Holdings
Asia: Teguh Harsono, Senior Manager, Fund Raising, PLN
Russia & CIS: Mikhail Sychev, Head of Debt Division, Gazprom Neft
Central Asia: Vineyesh Sawhney, Head of Financial Resources & Senior Vice President, Reliance Industries
Europe: Tor-Ove Horstad, SVP, Head of Commercial Energy, Norsk Hydro
Middle East: Rajit Nanda, CIO, ACWA Power
Click here to get your tickets.
With a new report from the World Bank concluding that the participation rate of institutional investors in infrastructure projects remains low, TXF looks at some of the factors that could explain this trend.
The state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has awarded the Kerawalapitiya 300MW LNG power plant project to lowest-bidder Lakdanavi Ltd, a company in which its subsidiary LTL Holdings is the majority stakeholder. The 20-year BOOT project has been plagued by delays caused by tender irregularities. The Cabinet has also authorised Sri Lanka Gas Terminal Ltd to enter into agreements with Petronet, Sojitz Corporation and Mitsubishi to establish a proposed LNG import terminal and FSRU at Colombo Port that will supply power plants in Kerawalapitiya.
HSBC has announced it will no longer provide project finance for new tar sands projects, including the construction of any tar sands pipelines. This policy would exclude HSBC from providing project financing for the Keystone XL and Line 3 Expansion pipelines - which are key to the expansion of the tar sands fields in Alberta, Canada.
HSBC also stated that its overall exposure to tar sands will reduce over time. The move is the most recent in a series of decisions by international financiers to distance themselves from the pipelines in North America. French banks BNP Paribas and Natixis, and insurance and investment giant Axa, as well as Dutch bank ING, and Sweden's largest pension fund, AP7, all made similar announcements in 2017.
Brazilian development bank BNDES and the New Development Bank (NDB) have disbursed $67.3 million to support six wind projects in Brazil. The funds will help finance parts of local firm Casa dos Ventos' 358MW Araripe 3 wind complex, comprised of 14 wind farms in the states of Piaui and Pernambuco.
It is the first loan after last year's agreement between NBD and BNDES to release $300 million in financing to support wind, solar, hydro and bioenergy projects in Brazil.
The Belgian government will double the area available to offshore wind park developments as it expands capacity from the current 871MW to 2.2GW by 2020. A new 221 square kilometre area will be added after 2020 as it targets 4GW of capacity by 2030 to compensate for a planned closure of the nuclear facilities at Doel and Tihange by 2025.
Irish developer Lumcloon Energy will partner with Korean firms Hanwha Energy Corporation and LSIS to develop two 100MW energy storage projects in County Offaly for a €150 million investment. The projects have already received planning permission and will be located close to the West Offaly Power Station near Cloniffeen, in Shannonbridge, and at the site of the former ESB power plant, in Lumcloon, near Cloghan. The projects aim to provide stability to the Irish grid as it accommodates greater levels of renewable power.
In line with an Indonesian programme to develop its geothermal regions, the state-owned utility PT PLN has issued a request for qualifications for interested parties to partner on the Geothermal Steam Field & Power Plantmore project. The output will be in excess of 5MW although companies need to demonstrate experience of projects over 10MW capacity. The deadline for submissions is May 25.
Foresight Solar Fund Ltd has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of five UK solar parks for £36.6 million. The 53.3MW portfolio includes the 20.7MW Verood project in Dorset, 13.2MW Park Farm in Leicestershire, 9.8MW Coombeshaead in Devon, 6.6MW Sawmills in Devon and 3MW Yarwall in Somerset. Finance was from Foresight's revolving facility provided by Santander Global Corporate Banking.
Star Energy Geothermal (Wayang Windu) Ltd (SEGWW) will issue $580 million of green bonds to help refinance bank loans connected to the 2017, $2.3 billion acquisition of the Indonesian geothermal fields of Salak and Darajat from Chevron. The bonds will be issued on April 24 and will have a 15-year term with a 6.75% coupon. Barclays Capital and DBS Bank Ltd / London, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, and Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte Ltd are the joint lead managers. Moody's has given a Ba3 rating while Fitch has rated it BB-.
An introduction to Argentina’s energy and infrastructure environment. The current and upcoming investment
opportunities in Argentina are presented via a discussion regarding the PPP and RenovAr programs, as well as energy and telecommunications projects
TXF Africa brings together the leaders of export and project finance in the region. Make new business connections and learn from local experts in a growing market for investment.
To kick off TXF Global 2018, we'll be bringing together senior developers, government personnel and investors to focus on project finance deals. Our dedicated Project Finance Day is a must for all infrastructure pro's!
The party of the year is back for 2018! TXF Global brings you all things Export & Agency Finance to the colourful city of Prague. Described as the fairy-tale city, TXF Global is here to make all your export finance dreams come true...
TXF returns for its fourth Iberian iteration: TXF Spain. Join us for more interactive discussions with Spain's leading exporters, financial institutions, ECAs, DFIs, insurers and advisers.
The TXF West Africa 2018 Roundtable will bring together key government, local corporates and banks with international players to discuss financing projects and commodities.
Whether you’re an insurance buyer, provider or simply looking to learn more about political risk and trade credit insurance as a risk management tool, this event is a unique opportunity to network with senior decision makers and discuss the key issues impacting the private insurance industry.
This influential gathering of export & project finance professionals from across the Asia-Pacific is returning for its fifth year! Join TXF Asia for the latest trends and opportunities in the region.
