ICBC (Thai) contributes THB 615,000,000 billion to syndicated loan for SPP2, SPP3, and SPP4 solar power plants

ICBC (Thai) contributes THB 615,000,000 billion to syndicated loan for SPP2, SPP3, and SPP4 solar power plants On December 29, 2011, Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO Group) secured a THB 2,460,000,000 (approximately USD 76.59 million) syndicated loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited (Thai ICBC), Kasikornbank (KBank) and Land and Houses Bank (LH Bank).

The financing supported the acquisition and operation of three solar power plants: SPP2 in Saraburi Province (8 MW), SPP3 in Sisaket Province (8 MW), and SPP4 on the border between Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani Provinces (6 MW).

The loan proceeds were allocated as follows: THB 868,100,000 (~USD 27.03 million) for SPP2, THB 903,800,000 for SPP3, and THB 683,900,000 for SPP4.

KBank was the mandated lead arranger and contributed 25% of the syndicated facility, ICBC (Thai) contributed 25%, and LH Bank contributed 50%, suggesting ICBC (Thai) contributed THB 615,000,000 (~USD 20,173,447).

According to EGCO, the financing covered construction and operational costs to achieve project sustainability, technology procurement, and hiring.

Prior to EGCO’s involvement, the SPP2, SPP3, and SPP4 projects were developed by SunEdison Energy Holding (Singapore) Pte Ltd and its parent company, MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. EGCO acquired the projects from SunEdison in 2012 and owned 99.99% of each project at the time of financing.

The projects operate under 5-year non-firm Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), renewable every 5-years, and receive an “adder” subsidy of THB 8/kWh for 10-years from Thailand’s Power Department Fund Management Division, Office of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The investments formed part of EGCO’s strategy to increase its renewable energy capacity to 300 MW by 2015, in alignment with Thailand’s clean energy policy.

These plants, with a combined installed capacity of 22 MW, were the first privately owned solar projects in Thailand to use sun-tracking photovoltaic systems.