Abu Dhabi's TAQA signs $1.4 billion deal for Morocco power plant

Abu Dhabi’s TAQA signs $1.4 billion deal for Morocco power plant

BNP Paribas, StanC and SocGen lead arranging int'l facilities; Project to finance expansion of Jorf Lasfar coal-fired plant; Asian export credit agencies participate in deal

June 21, 2012 10:35 by Reuters

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA), a state-owned oil explorer and power supplier, has signed a $1.4 billion financing arrangement for the expansion of its power plant in Morocco, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The 16-year multi-currency project financing is to increase production capacity by 700 megawatts at TAQA’s Jorf Lasfar coal-fired power plant.

It is the biggest coal-fired power plant in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Morocco’s first independent power producer.

Following expansion, the plant’s gross capacity will increase to 2,056 megawatts, TAQA said.

BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered are lead arrangers for the international funding, while Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire is lead arranging the Moroccan credit facilities.

The latter will represent about 40 percent of the total debt being raised, the statement said.

Direct loans and guarantees from Asian export credit agencies and other financial institutions will provide for more than 50 percent of the total project debt.

In an interview with Reuters last month, TAQA’s chief executive said that North African states offered the company opportunities for new power and water projects.

(Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Dinesh Nair)