More details on Globeleq's Azito gas-fired plant loan
On 22 January, AzitoEnergie – a joint venture between Globeleq (76.9%) and Industrial Promotion Services (23.1%) – reached financial close on a €265.3 million ($292.3million) heavily DFI-backed loan to fund 253MW of additional capacity at its 462MW Azito gas-fired power plant in Cote d’Ivoire.
The €330 million project, located near Abidjan, is backed by a 20-year PPA with Ivorian energy utility CIE – at the end of which the asset is expected to be transferred over to the government. The offtake agreement was amended in March 2019 and features a tariff beaten only by hydropower sources within the West Africa region.
Signed on 19 July 2019, the 15-year-and-six-month debt package comprises a euro-denominated tranche featuring eight DFIs: IFC (MLA and interest rate swap provider) – €46 million, AfDB – €34 million, DEG – €28 million, EAIF – €28 million, FMO – €30 million, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) – €21.5 million, Proparco – €30 million, Societe Belge D'Investissement pour les Pays en Developpement (BIO) – €15 million. There is also a separate locally denominated tranche provided by BOAD – CFAfr22.851 million ($34.8 million) – and MIGA has signed on debt coverage for the euro-denominated portion of the debt. The sponsors’ legal counsel is Fideis Legal, Asafo, and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, while Clifford Chance acted for the lenders.
