Latest news with #projectfinance
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VIFOR wind farm secures $385m for expansion
Rezolv Energy, backed by Actis, has secured project finance facilities of €331m ($385m) for the construction of the second phase of its VIFOR wind farm project in Buzău County, Romania. The second phase of the project will add 269MW capacity, increasing its total to 461MW - sufficient to supply electricity to 700,000 homes. The VIFOR wind farm project is backed by a group of bank including Erste Group and UniCredit Group, along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and OTP Bank, Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien. Rezolv Energy CEO Alastair Hammond stated: 'We are delighted to have sourced this significant additional funding from our trusted group of international lenders. With Phase 1 of the VIFOR project scheduled for completion by spring 2026, this financing allows us to move seamlessly into Phase 2 and take the project to its full capacity.' Currently under construction, the 192MW first phase of the project will comprise 30 turbines, each with a capacity of 6.4MW. This phase is expected to be operational by spring 2026. The subsequent phase will install a further 42 turbines, to be operational by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2027. When fully operational, VIFOR will be the largest wind farm constructed in Romania since 2015, and among the largest onshore wind farms in Europe. Actis energy infrastructure Central and Eastern Europe partner and head Jaroslava Korpanec stated: 'With VIFOR's first phase well under construction, it's fantastic to see such great progress on Phase 2 of the project. This second phase will add real, material scale to VIFOR and make it one of the largest onshore wind farms in Europe. VIFOR represents a key pillar of Rezolv Energy's plan to deliver clean power for Europe.' Banks sanctioning these loans have cited Rezolv's adherence to premier sustainability practices as a decisive factor. These include compliance with the International Finance Corporation's performance standards on environmental and social sustainability, Equator Principles [a risk management framework used by financial institutions to assess and manage environmental and social risks in project financing] and EBRD's performance requirements. VIFOR will create jobs and contribute to economic uplift in Buzău County. In July 2024, Rezolv Energy entered a ten-year virtual power purchase agreement with Bekaert in Romania. Bekaert will source 100 gigawatt hours of renewable energy each year from the VIFOR wind farm. "VIFOR wind farm secures $385m for expansion" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JPMorgan Just Sparked a $210M Green Finance Revolution--Here's What It Means for Carbon Markets
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) has just structured something that could change how carbon markets get fundedstarting with a $210 million loan for Chestnut Carbon. In a deal that applies traditional project finance to a carbon-credit developer for the first time in the U.S., Chestnut will use the funds to deliver long-term nature-based carbon removal credits to Microsoft under a 25-year contract. The forestry projects in Arkansas and Texas have already seen over 17 million trees planted since 2022. JPMorgan, joined by a group of smaller lenders, is betting that this modelnon-recourse and cash-flow-backedcould make carbon projects more bankable and draw in long-missing institutional investors. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Sign with JPM. The carbon credit market has long been stuck in a chicken-and-egg trap: investors want scale, but developers need capital to get there. Chestnut's CFO Greg Adams believes this debt-based structure may finally break that cycle. Instead of relying on equity or philanthropyas most projects still dothis structure could reduce the cost of capital and make room for infrastructure funds and mainstream financiers. JPMorgan's Vijnan Batchu echoed that view, saying giving developers runway at a better financing cost is key to delivering meaningful impact. The hope is that this model doesn't stay a one-off. While it's still early, the move may hint at a broader shift. Nancy Pfund of DBL Partners, an investor in Chestnut, noted that while this one loan doesn't solve the market's broader capital gap, it could be a turning point. If more deals like this follow, the voluntary carbon marketoften dismissed as too small to mattermight start to look like a serious asset class. And if Chestnut's partnership with Microsoft proves scalable, carbon removal could finally gain the financial muscle it needs to grow. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Bloomberg
22-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
JPMorgan Closes $210 Million Carbon Loan to Draw New Investors
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has helped structure a first-of-its-kind lending facility for a developer of carbon credits that it hopes will lower the cost of capital and attract institutional investors to a market that's struggled to grow amid a series of missteps and corporate apathy on climate action. The US bank, together with a syndicate of smaller lenders, closed a $210 million loan deal that will enable carbon developer Chestnut Carbon to meet its obligations under a 25-year agreement to generate credits from forestry projects in Arkansas and Texas, and deliver them to Microsoft Corp. The loan represents the first time traditional project-finance techniques have been applied to a US carbon-credit project and is an important step to help draw investors to the market, Chestnut said in a statement on Tuesday. The voluntary market for carbon credits, though touted by advocates as an important weapon in the fight against climate change and a critical vehicle for transmitting money from wealthy countries in the northern hemisphere to the global south, remains so small as to be a rounding error in the context of global capital markets. Still, a handful of deep-pocketed corporations are working to help it grow: Microsoft has signed scores of long-term carbon removal contracts, such as the one with Chestnut, while JPMorgan has said it wants to be the ' carbon bank of choice.'
Times of Oman
20-06-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
RBI issues final guidelines on project finance; new norms effective from October 1
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday issued the final Reserve Bank of India (Project Finance) Directions, 2025 which lays down the comprehensive framework for income recognition, asset classification, and provisioning norms for project loans under implementation. As per the Central Bank, these new guidelines will come into effect from October 1 current year. The directions follow the RBI draft guidelines on 'Prudential Framework for Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to Advances - Projects Under Implementation' on May 03, 2024, for stakeholder comments. The draft guidelines proposed an enabling framework for the regulated entities (REs) for financing project loans, while addressing the underlying risks. RBI said that it received feedback from nearly 70 entities, including banks, NBFCs, industry bodies, academicians, law firms, individuals, and the Central Government. According to new rules, the apex bank has introduced a principle-based regime for stress resolution in project finance exposures, applicable across all regulated entities (REs), ensuring a harmonised approach. The framework also rationalises the extension limits for the Date of Commencement of Commercial Operations (DCCO) to three years for infrastructure and two years for non-infrastructure projects, allowing REs commercial flexibility within these ceilings. On the provisioning front, standard asset provisioning for projects under construction has been fixed at 1%, increasing gradually with each quarter of DCCO deferment. "Rationalisation of standard asset provisioning requirement to 1 per cent for projects under construction, which shall gradually increase for each quarter of DCCO deferment. The requirements for under-construction CRE exposures will be however, slightly higher at 1.25 per cent," the RBI said in a notification. "During the operational phase, the standard asset provisioning requirement shall stand reduced to 1 per cent for CRE, 0.75 per cent for CRE-RH and 0.40 per cent for other project exposures, respectively," the RBI added. The new directions are aimed at balancing flexibility in project lending with adequate safeguards to manage risk, a long-standing demand from lenders and developers alike.
Khaleej Times
01-06-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE banks spur GCC profit surge with $639.6m Q1 growth
The UAE banking sector has emerged as a standout performer in the GCC in the first quarter of 2025, posting the largest absolute growth in net profits at $639.6 million, an 11.8 per cent increase year-on-year, according to data provided by Kamco Invest. This robust performance contributed to the GCC banking sector's record-high net profits of $15.6 billion, reflecting a 7.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) and 8.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth. Despite a decline in net interest income, UAE banks leveraged higher non-interest income, lower operating expenses, and a sharp seasonal drop in impairments to drive this growth, underscoring the sector's resilience amid evolving economic conditions, analysts at Kamco Invest said. The UAE's banking sector benefited from a dynamic economic backdrop, with outstanding credit facilities surging 24.1 per cent y-o-y in February 2025, outpacing Saudi Arabia's 16.3 per cent growth, as per central bank data. This lending boom, driven by a strong project pipeline and resilient non-oil sector growth, saw net loans in the GCC rise 4.1 per cent q-o-q to $2.2 trillion, the highest in 15 months. Financial sector experts said amid tighter liquidity and shifting deposit trends faced by the GCC banking sector, UAE banks are well-positioned to capitalise on regional opportunities, particularly in project finance and real estate. With a strong economic foundation and strategic lending, the UAE continues to set the pace for banking excellence in the region, driving sustainable growth in 2025, they pointed out. UAE-listed banks contributed $20.1 billion to this growth, a 3.2 per cent q-o-q increase, reflecting robust demand across sectors like real estate, construction, and services. However, aggregate contract awards in the GCC dipped 26.8 per cent y-o-y to $52.4 billion, though the UAE and Kuwait bucked the trend with healthy growth. Despite a 1.7 per cent q-o-q decline in GCC net interest income to $22.8 billion, driven by rate cuts in the second half of 2024, UAE banks mitigated the impact through diversified revenue streams. The aggregate yield on credit in the GCC fell to 4.16 per cent from 4.21 per cent in Q4-2024, reflecting lower interest rates. UAE banks, however, maintained revenue growth of 0.6 per cent q-o-q, reaching a share of the GCC's record $34.6 billion in banking revenues. Non-interest income, including fees from advisory services and wealth management, played a pivotal role in offsetting the decline in interest-based earnings. Customer deposits in the UAE surged to $903.8 billion, a 6.7 per cent q-o-q increase, outpacing the GCC's 5.1 per cent growth to $2.65 trillion. This deposit growth, driven by financial market volatility, bolstered liquidity but led to a decline in the loan-to-deposit ratio to 67.3 per cent ---- the lowest in the GCC --- down 220 basis points from Q4-2024. This shift reflects improved asset utilisation and a strategic pivot towards high-yield lending, with UAE banks increasingly financing projects in Saudi Arabia to support yields, according to Bloomberg. The UAE's economic vitality is evident in its manufacturing activity, with a PMI of 54.0 points in March 2025, slightly below Saudi Arabia's 58.1 but ahead of Qatar's 52.0 and Kuwait's 52.3, per Bloomberg's Markit Whole Economy Surveys. Dubai's PMI stood at 53.2, signaling steady growth driven by new orders and output. This aligns with the UAE's non-oil sector expansion, which supports lending growth in sectors like real estate (up 2.5 per cent q-o-q in Kuwait, a comparable market) and construction. While Saudi banks led in lending growth with a 5.5 per cent q-o-q increase to $801.5 billion, the UAE's strategic focus on diversification and high-yield opportunities positions it as a regional leader. Challenges remain, including pressure on funding costs, with GCC banking sector costs at 3.83 per cent in Q1-2025, and a decline in low-cost CASA deposits to 52 per cent from 54 per cent in Q4-2024. However, the UAE's ability to navigate these pressures through operational efficiency and non-interest income growth highlights its adaptability.
