Name and Location
Kpone independent power plant (Kipp) project, Ghana.

Client
Cenpower Generation Company.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of a 350 MW gas- and oil-fired combined-cycle power plant in the municipality of Kpone, within the Tema industrial zone, in Ghana.

Once Kipp comes on stream in 2017, it will be the largest independent power producer in the country, accounting for about 10% of Ghana’s total installed capacity and about 20% of its available thermal-generation capacity.

Value
$900-million.

Duration
The project is expected to come on stream in 2017.

Latest Developments
Cenpower has announced the financial close of the required $900-million in project finance for the Kipp project.

The plant will take about three years to build by South African contractor Group Five and will sell all its output to State utility Electricity Company of Ghana under a 20-year offtake agreement.

Comprising two components – a $650-million debt tranche and a $250-million equity tranche – the finance deal will be funded under export credit cover by a consortium of South African commercial banks and international development finance institutions (DFIs).

Rand Merchant Bank has acted as the global lead bank and mandated lead arranger for the commercial banking tranche, while South African banks Nedbank and Standard Bank are involved as mandated lead arrangers.

The Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelings Landen (FMO), or the Dutch Development Bank, has acted as the mandated arranger for the DFI tranche.

Through the equity raising, investment groups Sumitomo Corporation, African Infrastructure Investment Fund II and the FMO will enter the equity consortium, while InfraCo, the principal project codeveloper since inception, will be exiting.

Post-financial close, the equity holders in Cenpower are Africa Finance Corporation subsidiary AFC Equity Investments, Cenpower Holdings, a consortium of Ghanaian investors, the Sumitomo Corporation, Mercury Power and the FMO.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Group Five (EPC); General Electric and Siemens (power generation equipment); Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank and the FMO (finance arrangements).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cenpower Generation Company, tel +233 222 8736 or fax +233 30 2255094.
Group Five, tel +27 10 060 1555, +27 86 206 3885 or email groupfiveho@groupfive.co.za.
General Electric, tel +27 11 237 0000.
Siemens head of corporate communications Jose Machado, tel +27 11 652 2000 or email josemachado@siemens.com.