Philippines. SN Aboitiz Power Benguet

Date of agreement:08 Aug 2008
Country:Philippines
Customer:SN Aboitiz Power Benguet
Amount in USD:USD 60 million
Amount in EUR:EUR 38.8 million
Maturity:18 years
NACE sector / loan type:Electricity, gas, steam and hot water supply

This loan contributes to climate change mitigation: 25%

Project

The 18-year-maturity loan totalling USD 60 million has been provided to SN Aboitiz Power Benguet (SNAPB) for the purchase and rehabilitation of the Ambuklao and Binga hydropower plants in the Philippines. SNAPB is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corporation of the Philippines. SN Power will manage the rehabilitation and upgrading of the plants and provide management and expert services. Norconsult International, a Norwegian company, has carried out technical due diligence on the plants and is the lead engineering firm in the project.

The Ambuklao Hydropower Plant was built downstream of the Ambuklao Dam, harnessing the Agno river. The plant has been shut down since 1999 due to siltation caused by an earthquake. A new intake will be built and all major power components will be replaced.

The Binga plant is currently in operation, but it will be upgraded. The Binga reservoir is silted and a new intake needs to be built to deal with the silt. Also all major power components will be replaced or overhauled. Rehabilitation will increase the combined capacity of the power plants by 50 MW in total (30 MW for Ambuklao and 20 MW for Binga), from 175 MW to 225 MW. The project company plans to rehabilitate Ambuklao first and keep Binga fully operational throughout the rehabilitation period.

NIB’s loan will be in parallel with financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and local banks.

Sustainability summary

The acquisition of the Ambuklao and Binga power plants in the Philippines by SNAPB will increase electricity generation from existing hydropower dams, which is regarded as positive from an environmental point of view. An action plan with a timetable is to be developed and fully implemented in order to bring the project into compliance with NIB’s environmental requirements, for example, regarding wastewater treatment, outstanding approvals and the storage and handling of oil.