Page 7 - AsiaElec Week 09
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AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec
Vena Energy issues Asia’s first green bond
SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE IPP Vena Energy has issued a $325mn green bond in a bid to raise cash to help fund its 9-GW portfolio of renewable projects under development across Asia.
The bond, rated BBB- by Standard & Poor’s and listed on the Singapore Exchange, was issued under Vena Energy’s Euro Medium Term Notes Programme established in November 2019. The fixed-rate bond has a five-year maturity and a 3.133% rate.
This is the first corporate US$ green bond to be issued by a Singapore-based company.
The proceeds will be used to refinance exist- ing corporate loans for the development, con- struction and operation of eligible green projects in accordance with Vena Energy’s Green Financ- ing Framework.
“This is a significant milestone for Vena Energy as we access the international capital markets, and an affirmation of the positive con- tributions that we have made to the environ- ment and host communities in the Asia-Pacific region,” said the company’s CEO Nitin Apte said in a statement.
Vena Energy currently has 1,562 MW of solar and wind assets in operation, 300 MW of solar
projects under construction and 374 MW of solar and wind project that are “shovel-ready.”
It also has a development pipeline of 90 solar and wind projects with 9 GW of capacity.
Among various projects, Vena Energy is backing a 100-MW/150-MWh storage project at Wandoan in Australia along with utility AGL Energy. This could expand to 1,000 MW. It also owns the 127-MW Tailem Bend solar project in South Australia.
“We believe this is a watershed moment for Asia as Vena Energy marks the beginning of a green bond wave,” said Ravi Nichani, executive director, debt origination & advisory at Crédit Agricole, the joint global co-ordinator and joint lead manager for the issue along with DBS Bank, ING and MUFG.
Vena’s Green Financing Framework had been independently evaluated by Vigeo Eiris and Japan Credit Rating Agency, receiving the highest level of assurance from both agencies.
It aims to develop renewables projects in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Devel- opment Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG7, providing access to reliable energy, and SDG13, combatting climate changes and its impact.
Barclays to assist in sale of Turkey’s Polat Enerji
TURKEY
ALL three shareholders of Polat Enerji have mandated the UK-based Barclays for the sale of the Turkish wind power producer, unnamed sources told Reuters on February 26.
Canadian pension fund PSP Investments has a 45% stake in Polat, while France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles holds 45% and Batiyel Enerji, owned by Turkish businessman Adnan Polat, controls the remaining 10%.
Polat Enerji, established in 2000, operates 509 MW of wind plants. It set up its first wind power plant in 2008. Turkey’s currently running feed- in-tariff (FiT) programme Renewable Energy Support Mechanism (YEKDEM) will expire at the end of 2020. Launched in 2011 to use the country’s vast clean sources efficiently and sup- port its development, YEKDEM offers an FiT of $0.073 per kWh for unsold electricity produced by wind and hydropower projects in the first ten years of their operations.
YEKDEM, which applies to all plants built until the end of 2020, is expected to be replaced
by another scheme, likely with purchase guar- antees at a lower price, an unnamed industry source told Reuters.
Polat’s 240-MW Soma wind power plant is out of YEKDEM but other three plants will ben- efit from it until 2023.
Polat Enerji holds permits to build up to 573 MW of additional wind plants. Turkey’s installed electricity generation capacity reached 91,342 MW in January, according to latest data from state-run electricity transmission company TEIAS..
Power capacity rose to 91,267 MW at end- 2019 from 88,551 MW at end-2018. The installed capacity in renewables totalled 45,000 MW at end-2019, 49% of total installed capacity. Solar power made up nearly 6.6% of total installed power, with an approximate capacity of 6,000 MW, while wind power, with an installed capac- ity of 7,600 MW, accounted for 8.3% of the total.
Turkey now ranks 6th in Europe and 13th in the world in terms of renewable capacity.
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