The Department of Energy’s R9.7-billion independent power producer (IPP) peaking projects, Avon and Dedisa were last week named the winners of the Euromoney Project Finance Magazine’s Africa Power Deal of the Year for 2013 award.
The financing for the IPP peaking projects was facilitated by coordinating mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) Investec, Absa and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and MLAs Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank and Sanlam, who were responsible for negotiating the finance documentation and settling the project documentation.
Nedbank Capital was the largest lender in the consortium having underwritten R2-billion of the projects’ senior debt, Nedbank Capital energy head Sakkie Leimecke told Engineering News Online.
The projects, which were being developed by a consortium led by international energy group GDF Suez, reached financial close in August last year, after which construction started in September.
The 670 MW Avon facility was being built in KwaZulu-Natal and would comprise four units, while the 335 MW Dedisa plant, which would be located in the Coega industrial development zone of the Eastern Cape, would incorporate two units.
Each facility would also have on-site fuel and water storage for a continuous 45 hours of full-load operations. Commercial operation was expected at Dedisa in 2015 and at Avon in 2016.
State-owned power utility Eskom would be the offtaker of the electricity produced under a 15-year power purchase agreement.