Sustainable Infrastructure Awards 2024: Financial might is right for green projects

The year 2023 was an exceptionally busy one for the project finance and infrastructure finance departments of banks, and law firms were also working at full capacity. The renewable energy pipeline kept accelerating, though there were also very large liquified natural gas project financings in the transition fuel space. Digital infrastructure is a growing area of focus, given the need for bigger data centres costing upwards of a billion dollars.

The Project Sponsor of the Year – Global award goes to Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar). Having established itself as a renewable energy powerhouse in the Middle East, Masdar has continued to develop a global presence, from UK offshore wind to Indonesian floating solar. Last year was notable for progress on projects in Central Asia, where it has worked closely with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Masdar is the sponsor of the US$840 million Sherabad, Samarkand and Jizzakh solar PV portfolio in Uzbekistan, where it grouped together the closing of loans for the three projects. Uzbekistan has a national goal of developing 7 gigawatts of solar and 5GW of wind capacity by 2030, and Masdar is well-placed to be a major player. It is also sponsoring solar PV in Azerbaijan.

With Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Mubadala Investment Company, and the diversified utilities and energy group Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) as shareholders, the well-capitalized Masdar can put in high levels of equity in order to attract debt for projects. One of its latest agreements in the wind power market is in Egypt, where Masdar, its African affiliate Infinity Power, and Hassan Allam Utilities are in the early stages of developing a vast 10GW onshore wind farm.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) wins as Project Finance House of the Year – Global for leading a series of landmark transactions across the world, including many of the Deal of the Year winners in The Asset Triple A Sustainable Infrastructure Awards 2024. These included leading roles in the Neom Green Hydrogen bank loan in Saudi Arabia, and acting as financial adviser to the offtaker – Saudi Power Procurement Company – on the US$2.4 billion Al Shuaibah 1 and 2 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. SMBC also featured in the syndicate for Gulf of Suez 2 wind project in Egypt, the ADB B loan for Monsoon Wind Power Company in Laos and the Baltic Power offshore wind in Poland.

SMBC played a leading role in the financing for the US$$8.5 billion Neom Green Hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia.

The bank participated in the US$1.8 billion loan for the Aguas Horizonte desalination plant (featuring Marubeni) for Chilean copper mining company Codelco, and in the uncovered commercial bank loan for the Condor II electric bus fleets, also in Chile. SMBC was the green loan coordinator on 13 mandated and closed transactions, and in addition to lending, is one of the leading global advisory institutions for renewable energy.

It has over 460 officers globally for project finance, with sizeable offices in Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, London and Dubai.  SMBC also has a very long-standing close working relationship with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), at a time when Japan is stepping up its work with other institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to co-finance projects, notably in green energy.

The Middle East Project Finance House of the Year award goes to Standard Chartered. The bank brought its project analysis and financial structuring strengths to bear in a wide range of sectors. Saudi Arabia was of course important. The bank was a mandated lead arranger and global green loan coordinator for the Middle East Deal of the Year, the US$$8.5 billion Neom Green Hydrogen project, and also a mandated lead arranger and green loan coordinator in the Rawabi desalination plant financing. It is heavily involved in the vast series of solar projects being implemented in Saudi Arabia. Standard Chartered is also willing to take on smaller deals which have potential for replication, and a good example is the Noor II street lighting loan for the Municipality of Abu Dhabi, which is likely to be emulated elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates. The Ras Laffan Petrochemicals project in Qatar was another standout deal in 2023, with Standard Chartered taking on multiple roles, including documentation bank, inter-creditor agent, and onshore and offshore account bank.

The Africa Project Finance House of the Year award goes to Société Générale. It utilizes its traditional strong presence on the ground across North and West Africa, and has the bandwidth to do smaller deals as well as big projects. Société Générale was one of three commercial banks, as well as the documentation bank, technical bank and hedging bank for the Gulf of Suez II wind energy project in Egypt – a country which has big ambitions in wind power. The project also featured NEXI, JBIC and the EBRD. This transaction fits into the bank’s focus on the financing of new access to renewable energy (mainly solar but also hydraulic, wind and biomass).

In spite of selling some businesses in Africa during the course of the year, Société Générale still has an extensive deposit-taking branch network, and makes CFA franc-denominated loans. It has built up a good working relationship with GuarantCo, a unit of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, which is backed by six governments and the International Finance Corporation. Last year, Société Générale signed a CFA franc 37.8 billion (US$63 million) loan with electric motorbike manufacturer Spiro to support its fleet of bikes, and associated batteries and swap stations in Benin and Togo. This followed up on the Cameroon Toll Plazas loan backed by GuarantCo in 2022.

The Central Asia Project Finance House of the Year is the ADB. The region is still heavily reliant on development bank financing and expertise, and there is a growing volume of wind and solar deals as part of the move away from coal-fired power generation. The ADB works closely with governments on individual loans, but also at an early stage on the technical details of public-private partnership (PPP) legal frameworks. It is working to bring in a broader group of banks and debt funds taking B loan pieces, and last year placed debt tranches with ILX Fund of Amsterdam on the three Uzbekistan solar projects sponsored by Masdar.

The bank can finance in local currencies, and one notable 2023 transaction was the upgrade of the Almaty Electric Stations CHP Plant 2 in Kazakhstan. This is an important energy transition deal, replacing coal-fired district heating in the capital city with cleaner gas turbines. The US$214 million equivalent loan was denominated in the local currency tenge. In the renewables space, Central Asia is seeing strong interest from Middle Eastern sponsors, and the ADB has been working closely with players such as Masdar and Acwa Power, building relationships which will help speed up the fast-growing pipeline of projects.

The Europe Project Finance House of the Year award goes to BNP Paribas, which has been sharpening its focus on green transition projects. It is already one of the most experienced arrangers of projects loans for both onshore and offshore wind, and was a mandated lead arranger in the Baltic Power financing in Poland, and in the £2 billion (US$2.55 billion) financing for Moray West Offshore Wind in Scotland – the first offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom to enter into corporate power purchase agreements for most of the generated power. The bank also acted as financial adviser and ECA (export credit agency) coordinator in the 3.6GW UK Dogger Bank wind farm. It was also one of the commercial lenders supporting a €1.3 billion (US$1.41 billion) battery gigafactory in Douai in northern France, which will initially supply Renault. Finding new sources of debt is important for the infrastructure asset class, and last December, the bank announced the launch of BNP Paribas Climate Impact Infrastructure Debt, an initiative supported by the aligned commitments of BNP Paribas Asset Management, BNP Paribas Corporate & Institutional Banking, and BNP Paribas Cardif, to finance climate change mitigation. The fund is expected to allocate to transactions in continental European countries.

The North America Project Finance House of the Year is HSBC, which has displayed strong commitment to green transition. Renewable power generation, battery storage, electric vehicle (EV) car factories and energy data centres were all on the list of deals for the New York-based project finance and export credit team. HSBC acted as a joint sustainability structuring agent for the US$4.6 billion sustainability linked loan (SLL) refinancing for Air Trunk. It was a mandated lead arranger in the US$2.4 billion non-recourse project financing for the AES Clean Energy Bellefield Solar and Battery Energy Storage System portfolio, and the US$750 million Origis Energy Green Construction Warehouse for a 2GW solar and storage portfolio.

Other HSBC deals included the Walnut Bend Solar in Arkansas, the BrightNight renewables portfolio, Longroad Energy portfolio, Boomtown Solar, and the Intersect Power portfolio pipeline in Texas, California and Wyoming. Also in support of green transition, HSBC was a mandated lead arranger in the US$940 million K-Sure covered green loan to Hyundai Mobis to expand its EV component manufacturing in the United States. In the LNG transition fuel space, HSBC was a lender in the North America Deal of the Year, the US$12.3 billion Rio Grande LNG loan. But HSBC has since December 2022 been implementing a new policy of stopping lending on newly-approved oil and gas fields and related infrastructure, so its focus is now even more firmly on renewable energy financing. In January 2024, the bank published a detailed net-zero transition plan.

The Aguas Horizonte project in northern Chile will deliver desalinated water to Codelco’s copper mines. 

The winner of the South America Project Finance House of the Year is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). The bank was a lender in the Aguas Horizonte project in northern Chile, which will take seawater from the Pacific Ocean and deliver desalinated water to copper mines owned by Codelco. In addition to the reverse osmosis desalination plant, the US$2.2 billion project includes 160 kilometres of pipelines and electric infrastructure, to pump the water to a reservoir at an altitude of over 3km. The bank is traditionally strong in Brazil, and has a financing framework together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to support electricity distribution via Iberdrola subsidiary Neoenergia. After an initial deal in 2021, a second 703 million reais (US$135.88 million) financing was closed in May 2023, to expand electricity distribution in the Neoenergia Pernambuco concession area. This was followed up in August by a small debut bilateral green loan from the same programme.

MUFG has a big presence globally in digital infrastructure, and is making a big push in Latin America, notably in Mexico, Brazil and Chile. Local currency and dollar loans are made available, and the bank works in both corporate finance and project finance. For example, a hyperscale site might be project-financed, but sells capacity to big techs and companies which need corporate loans. It participated in the US$170 million financing for DigitalRealty/Brookfield joint venture Ascenty’s Chilean operations. And it was a co-structuring coordinator in the US$1.22 billion term loan to finance Aligned Data Centers’ acquisition of Latin America data centre provider Odata. Also last year, MUFG was an underwriter in the financing for the Texas-based FloNetworks’ acquisition of American Tower’s Mexican fibre operations.

Rating agencies of the year

The winner of EMEA Rating Agency award is Moody’s Ratings. The EMEA unit of its global infrastructure finance group combines the expertise of a global team of analysts with extensive backgrounds in public finance, corporate finance, and structured finance. It published a regular flow of issuer comments on important regional players such as Saudi Electricity Company, QatarEnergy, Masdar and Acwa Power. Highlights of the year included rating the GreenSaif Pipelines conventional bond and sukuk offerings, as well as the refinancing bank debt for the 2022 acquisition of a stake in Aramco gas pipelines by a BlackRock-led consortium. In addition to credit ratings, Moody’s provides second-party opinions on green bond frameworks. In August 2023, Masdar made its green bond debut with a US$750 million deal.

The Masdar green bonds framework published in March received the highest Sustainability Quality Score of “SQS1” from Moody’s. In addition to its initial ratings, Moody’s publishes regular sectoral research, such as its periodic reviews of project finance issuers in the EMEA region.

The Rating Agency of the Year for the Americas is Fitch Ratings. In the US, solar and wind project revenue bonds are growing in volume, and Fitch has rated a series of such transactions. In December, it rated a placement from Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), backed by revenues from six projects. Fitch rates many of the major utilities and power generation companies in Latin America, and in addition to these corporate ratings, has rated many standalone wind and solar power projects, notably in Chile and Brazil. Last December, Fitch assigned a BBB rating to Metropolitan Municipality of Lima’s 1.2 billion soles (US$325 million) bonds, which were placed internationally. The innovative securitization structure was backed by alcabala (sales tax) and vehicle tax. The proceeds will be used to finance a portfolio of 42 public investment projects that address infrastructure and public service needs.  

Law firms of the year

The South America Law Firm of the Year award goes to White & Case, which represented clients on deals across a wide range of sectors. The firm advised Sonnedix on the acquisition of a portfolio of assets from ENEL, and solar power developer Solek Holding on a senior secured facility for building new PV plants. Also in Chile, it advised InfraBridge on the acquisition of electric bus fleets for use in Santiago, the Condor II transaction. White & Case also had another busy year in Brazil. It represented lenders on an acquisition refinancing for Transportadora Asociada de Gas (TAG) pipelines, and the lenders on a non-recourse facility for the 456MW Project Feijao wind project. The firm likewise represented the lenders on the US$575 million financing for the Barcarena combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Brazil, part of an LNG to power complex, a deal which featured Brazil’s first-ever US dollar index revenue structure.

The Middle East and Africa Law Firm of the Year is Norton Rose Fulbright. Legal work last year included acting for the PPP consortium developing the Al Wakrah sewage treatment plant in Qatar, and acting for lenders on the independent water treatment (IWP) and pipeline transportation system project in Abu Dhabi (Project Wave), which will provide water for injection into Adnoc’s  onshore operations. In Africa, the Norton Rose Fulbright team advised Infinity Power in connection with its acquisition of wind-based platform Lekela Power from a consortium led by Actis. Lekela currently operates 1GW of wind power projects in South Africa, Egypt and Senegal. It also advised Kamona Copper on its expansion plans in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Angola, the firm advised the Ministry of Finance on the financing of three major infrastructure projects supported by Export-Import Bank of the United States. These included a US$872 million loan facility for the construction of two PV solar energy power plants. The plants will be constructed by Sun Africa, and will be the largest renewable energy transaction in US Exim’s history. The firm is also advising TotalEnergies on its strategic minority investment in Xlinks, which plans to transmit renewable energy from Morocco to the UK via a 3,800km subsea cable.

The Europe Law Firm of the Year is Linklaters, whose energy and infrastructure team is at the forefront of advising sponsors, commercial bank lenders, multilateral development banks and ECAs on the development and financing of complex, large-scale projects. Last year, the firm advised Ineos Olefins Belgium on the development and €3.5 billion financing of Project ONE, which is set to be the most environmentally sustainable ethane cracker in Europe. It advised the lenders on the €4.4 billion non-recourse green financing of the Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland.

And as the European Union moves towards electric autos as part of its climate change agenda, Linklaters advised Automotive Cells Company on one of the largest auto industry debt financings ever seen in Europe, the €4.4 billion loan to develop three battery gigafactories. In same sector, the firm acted as counsel to the lenders and the European Investment Bank on the financing of the Envision AESC electric battery gigafactory in Douai, northern France, which will initially supply Renault. Linklaters also advised a syndicate of banks and funds in connection with the financial restructuring of the 299MW Tees Renewable Energy Plant, the world’s largest pellet biomass power plant, in northeast England. In the digital space, the firm advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its acquisition of a €2 billion 17.5% stake in Italian telecoms network NetCo.

The North America Law Firm of the Year award goes to Milbank. The project, energy and infrastructure finance group is at the forefront of advisory on green and digital transition. There is a high level of secondary market activity for infrastructure assets in North America, and Milbank has advised lenders on many M&A deals. The firm advised Onward Energy on the acquisition of a 1.2GW solar portfolio, and lenders on the acquisition finance for the KKR purchase of New Jersey-based digital transformation services provider Ness Digital Engineering.

In Canada, Milbank advised lenders on the Stonepeak Partners acquisition of a 50% stake in Key Access Pipeline System. It also represented the lenders on the US$2.3 billion structured financing for specialized cloud computing provider CoreWeave. South of the border, it advised commercial lenders and multilateral development banks on the Terminal Quimica Puerto Mexico ethane important terminal. The law firm is well-placed to advise on global cross border transactions, and it was the legal adviser on the GreenSaif Pipelines sukuk issuance, the refinancing of a bridge facility put in place for the 2022 purchase of a 49% stake in the Saudi Aramco gas pipelines network by a BlackRock-led consortium. Milbank has also been strengthening its structured finance team, and advised underwriters on a series of data centre and fibre revenue securitizations.

Asia-Pacific

APAC project sponsors of the year

Over in Asia-Pacific, the appetite for project finance/infrastructure finance transactions remains robust on the back of sufficient pool of liquidity coming from commercial lenders, multilateral development banks and ECAs. Several of the transactions were funded with green debt and other ESG-related type of financing from the loan market that incorporated key performance indicators and sustainability performance targets, including interest or margin adjustments if the targets are met or not.

APAC remains an attractive investment destination for project finance sponsors and the Singapore-based I Squared Capital is voted as the Institutional Investor of the Year. It was involved in PT Asianet Media Teknologi, which raised 1.5 trillion rupiah (US$93.40 million) in acquisition financing when it bought fibre optics assets from PT MNC Kabel Mediakom.

This is a transformational transaction as it adds scale in PT Asianet’s existing fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) business in Indonesia, making it among the top three FTTH infrastructure owners in the country. PT Asianet is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital and following the acquisition, it will have a network of over 15,000km of fibre optics and more than 1.5 million home passes across 10 cities in Indonesia.

I Squared Capital is also the sponsor of the two greenfield floating solar projects by Huahsuan Green Energy Company/United Renewable Energy Engineering Company in Taiwan that is being funded by NT$8.85 billion (US$275 million) worth of green financing. The projects have a total installed capacity of 192 megawatt-hours – with each of the asset funded separately. The deal demonstrates the growing acceptability of uncovered long-tenor financing for renewable energy projects, especially in Taiwan.

Among project sponsors, Adani Green Energy of India is voted as the Renewable Energy Sponsor of the Year in APAC. In 2023 the company concluded a US$1.35 billion green debt financing to fund a 2.2GW portfolio of five greenfield solar projects in the Khavda Renewable Energy Park in the state of Gujarat. The transaction introduced an innovative and affordable standby letter of credit-backed L/C sub-limit, thus enabling ease of construction and making it a full-package financing.

The company, in partnership with TotalEnergies, is also developing two solar power projects – a 500MW capacity plant in Rajasthan that has a long-term power purchase agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and a 250MW capacity standalone merchant power project being implemented in Gujarat. The project was expected to achieve financial close in April 2024 with a total financing of US$400 million in green loan.

SMC leads the winning consortium for the rehabilitation of the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is selected as the Transport Sponsor of the Year with its involvement in mass rail transit and airport projects in the Philippines. The company is the sponsor in the SMC Mass Rail Transit 7 project – its first-ever foray in the mass transportation space – which is being financed by a 100 billion pesos (US$1.72 billion) syndicated term loan facility. The transaction is the single largest peso-denominated syndicated term loan in the Philippines to-date and the project consists of the construction of a 22km metro rail transit system with 14 stations from North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in the province of Bulacan plus a 19km highway.

SMC leads the winning consortium – New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation – that will undertake the rehabilitation of the Philippines’ main gateway Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which signed the concession agreement with the Philippine government in March this year. The company is also the operator of the airport being built in Bulacan – the New Manila International Airport – which will be developed in phases. It will have an initial capacity of 35 million passengers annually and a target of 100 million passengers a year once it is fully completed.

EdgeConneX is the Data Centre Sponsor of the Year for developing data centre projects in Indonesia and India. The company is the sponsor for PT Graha Teknologi Nusantara, which concluded a US$403.8 million sustainability-linked loan (SLL) to finance a data centre in Indonesia. This is the first-ever sustainability-linked non-recourse financing structure for a data centre in the country. The innovative structure provides for margin adjustments on meeting key performance indicators (KPIs) in respect of the power usage effectiveness, the use of renewable energy and the achievement of safety goals in line with the SLL principles published by the Loan Market Association.

In a joint venture with AdaniConneX, EdgeConneX is developing a data centre in India under a US$213 million project financing for DC Development Noida Limited. The landmark deal represents the first and largest data centre US dollar project financing in India. The financing structure caters for two different types of contracts – one large hyperscaler and one multi-currency – housed in separate data centres, both part of a single financing.

The ADB is once again voted as the Multilateral Agency of the Year for APAC for the fourth year in a row as it continued to spearhead a number of project finance/infrastructure finance deals across different sectors in the region. It was the sole mandated lead arranger, bookrunner and lender in the US$692.55 million project financing for Monsoon Wind Power Company, which is developing a 600MW wind power project in Laos. This is the largest project of its kind in Southeast Asia and the first cross-border wind power project in Asia.

The ADB was the mandated lead arranger for US$13.8 million loan facilities for GreenYellow Smart Solutions Vietnam Company supporting the development and operation of solar PV systems located on the rooftops of commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses throughout Vietnam. In another deal, the bank co-financed with Security Bank the 4.8 billion pesos (US$82.87 million) loan facility for iSON Tower Limited to fund the construction and operation of up to 800 telecom towers in underserved areas across the Philippines.

In India, the ADB supported the SAEL Biomass Energy Project with a US$90.5 million equivalent loan, and the Greenway Carbon Credits Gender Finance Project with a US$6.5 million loan facility. The Greenway facility is used to partly finance two carbon offset projects, which will generate carbon credits from the distribution and usage of one million improved cook stoves to replace the non-efficient traditional stoves in rural households.

The PPP Agency of the Year award is given for the sixth consecutive year to PT Penjaminan Infrastruktur Indonesia (PT PII), which aims to improve the creditworthiness of PPP infrastructure projects in Indonesia by providing guarantee based on the appraisal framework and clear risk allocation criteria. Government guarantees through PT PII are one of the main factors that enhance investor confidence to participate in the country’s infrastructure projects. Up until February 2024, PT PII had guaranteed 34 PPP projects with over 300 trillion rupiah (US$18.6 billion) in total project value.

The Canberra Metro Light Rail project secured A$783 million in green financing.

Best project finance houses in APAC

Société Générale is a repeat winner as the ESG Project Finance House of the Year. The bank was a mandated lead arranger in the A$4.6 billion (US$3.05 billion) SLL for the data centre project of Macquarie Asset Management and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. The financing has set industry benchmarks in sustainability financing, including as the largest SLL for a data centre operator globally. It is also the first SLL by a data centre operator to incorporate gender pay equity KPI and the first SLL to use margin incentives to fund social impact programmes across the region.

The bank was also a mandated lead arranger in the A$783 million green financing for Canberra Metro Light Rail that was certified by Climate Bonds Initiative under the low carbon transport criteria. The transaction involved the debt refinancing of Canberra Metro Light Rail Stage 1 and the financing of the construction of the extension of Stage 2A. Société Générale was also a lender in Squadron Energy’s A$1.87 billion acquisition financing – classified as a green loan – for the 100% interest in CWP Renewables.

SMBC also repeats as the winner of the Project Finance House of the Year award on the back of several market-defining transactions. It is the only international bank involved in the US$692.55 million project financing for Monsoon Wind Power Company to fund the development of a 600MW wind power plant in Laos, acting as a lender in the US$150 million syndicated B loan part of the financing. It is the first cross-border wind power project in Asia, and is expected to reduce the annual greenhouse gas emissions by 750,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.

In other renewable energy projects, SMBC was a green loan coordinator and a mandated lead arranger in the NT$118 billion (US$3.67 billion) project financing for the Hai Long offshore wind farm project in Taiwan. Comprising three offshore wind farms with a total installed capacity of 1,022 MW, this is the largest-ever offshore wind farm transaction closed in Taiwan and in Asia. Once completed in 2027, it will provide enough clean energy to power more than one million Taiwanese households.

In another Taiwanese deal, the bank was a mandated lead arranger in the NT$5.27 billion project financing facilities for Macquarie Asset Management. This is a refinancing exercise that supported Macquarie Asset in its acquisition of a majority stake in a portfolio of 100 operational wind turbines from InfraVest totalling 230MW – making it one of the largest brownfield onshore wind portfolios in Taiwan. The assets are backed by long-term corporate PPAs signed with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company with attractive tariff. They also benefit from the back-stop PPA regime with state-owned Taiwan Power, putting an additional layer of protection.

In India, SMBC was a mandated lead arranger in the US$1.35 billion green debt financing for Adani Green Energy to fund a 2.2GW portfolio of five greenfield solar projects in the Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat. The bank was particularly active in financing renewable energy-related projects in Australia, acting as the green loan coordinator and mandated lead arranger in the Squadron Energy’s A$1.87 billion acquisition financing to purchase 100% interest in CWP Renewables, whose portfolio consists of 1.1GW operating assets and 20GW development pipeline. This is the largest renewable energy acquisition in Australia and it created the biggest renewable energy investor operator and developer in Australia as it takes Squadron Energy’s renewable operating portfolio to 2.4GW.

The bank is also the mandated lead arranger in the A$320 million revolving credit facility for Zenith Energy, to finance new energy facilities designed to help decarbonize Australia’s mining industry. It was likewise a mandated lead arranger in the A$288 million project financing for Cranbourne BESS Finance Company.

DBS retains the Project Finance Advisory House of the Year title for the fourth consecutive time, closing assignments in Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh in 2023. These included the Dhaka RAD Elevated Expressway project, representing the first-ever Bangladesh PPP project funded by international lenders, which should improve the traffic situation from the capital city of Dhaka to the port city of Chittagong. As of December 2023, the bank was working on several financial advisory assignments for various project finance deals in Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and China.

K-Sure participated in the US$3.1 billion project financing for the expansion of the Balikapapan refinery.

Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) is once again the ECA of the Year. It participated in the US$3.1 billion project financing for PT Kilang Pertamina Balikapapan, which was earmarked for the expansion of the Balikpapan refinery. This represents Indonesia’s national strategic refinery development master plan designed to make the refinery environment-friendly by significantly reducing emissions through energy efficiency in operations and the production of refined products compliant with the Euro-V standards.

K-Sure was also involved in the US$2.4 billion project financing for PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia to fund the development of an integrated petrochemical complex in the country. It also supported Mobis America in its US$940 million green loan facility, which will be used by Hyundai Mobis for the expansion of its EV manufacturing operations in the US.

HSBC is the ECA Coordinator of the Year with its involvement in the two deals of Reliance Jio Infocomm – one covered by Swedish ECA EKN and the other by Finnvera of Finland. The bank was also the ECA coordinator in the US$625 million equivalent loan for Reliance Industries that was supported by Export-Import Bank of Korea for the purchase of a floating production storage and offloading vessel from Samsung Heavy Industries.

Moody’s Ratings is the winner of Rating Agency of the Year award for the fifth year in a row backed by its strong coverage of infrastructure finance debt in APAC. The agency rated 71% of the total infrastructure debt in the region last year amounting to US$15.9 billion. Its strength is also illustrated by solely rated transactions for the likes of Ausgrid Finance, AGL Energy, Aurizon Finance, Australian Energy Market Operator and NSW Electricity Networks Finance of Australia; Kyushu Electric Power Company, Kansai Electric Power Company, Central Japan Railway Company and Chubu Electric Power Company of Japan; and Korea Water Resources Corporation.

China Lianhe Credit Rating Company is the Rating Agency of the Year in China. In 2023 it covered issuances in 345 infrastructure projects in four sectors, including petrochemical and gases, electricity, public utilities and infrastructure asset-backed securities. It published 329 research reports and articles on various media platforms and engaged investors by participating in summits, communicating through offline channels and hosting online events. China Lianhe also revised its ESG rating methodology and expanded its coverage to 2,000 companies in 23 industries.

Among the law firms, White & Case took the accolade as the APAC Law Firm of the Year, representing clients in several headline project finance transactions, including in the Hai Long offshore wind project, Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilizers Finance urea project, PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan refinery and Digital Edge data centre.

Société Générale beats the competition as the Project Finance House of the Year in Australia for its participation in several landmark project finance transactions in this highly competitive market. It was involved both as financial adviser and mandated lead arranger in the A$288 million project financing for Cranbourne BESS Finance Company and in the US$2.5 billion senior debt facilities for Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilizers Finance. It has also a strong transport-related franchise with its participation in projects for Canberra Metro Light Rail, WestConnex Integrated toll network and Transurban Westlink M7 widening project.

MUFG Bank is selected as the Project Finance House of the Year in India and Indonesia. In India, the bank was a mandated lead arranger in the US$213 million project financing for DC Development Noida Limited – the first and the largest US dollar data centre project financing in India. It was a green loan coordinator and a mandated lead arranger in the US$425 million green financing for Serentica Renewables India 4 Private Limited to support the construction of a round-the-clock project comprising of 350MW onshore wind capacity located in the state of Maharashtra and 260MW solar capacity located in Rajasthan. It was likewise the green structuring bank, guarantee structuring bank and mandated lead arranger in the US$1.35 billion green debt financing for Adani Green Energy to develop a 2.2GW portfolio of five greenfield solar projects in the Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat.

In Indonesia, MUFG Bank was a mandated lead arranger in the financing for PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan refinery and in the Edge ConneX data centre development. It was also an arranger in PT Asianet Media Teknologi’s 1.5 trillion rupiah acquisition financing for the purchase of fibre optics assets from PT MNC Kabel Mediakom.

Other multiple country winners are SMBC taking the Project Finance House of Year accolades in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, and DBS, which is selected as the Project Finance House of the Year in Singapore and Vietnam. Other winners are Infrastructure Development Company in Bangladesh, ICBC in China, Maybank Investment Bank in Malaysia, Habib Bank in Pakistan, BDO Capital & Investment Corporation in the Philippines and Kasikornbank in Thailand.

SBI Capital Markets flexed its strong franchise in India to win the Project Finance Advisory House of the Year award, while EY Ford Rhodes is cited in Pakistan, where it advised the Government of Sindh in the rehabilitation project to provide affordable housing to 2.1 million families affected by unprecedented flooding in 2022.

For the full list of winners of The Asset Sustainable Infrastructure Awards 2024, please click here.

If you are interested in attending our awards dinner in Singapore on July 9th, 2024 please contact us at [email protected].