• Greece tries to swap EU funds for PPPs

    In early October, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu visited Greece to inaugurate two major transport projects – the Tithorea-Domokos railway line and Thriassio Pedio Freight Complex

  • Ethiopia’s bold renewable energy ambitions

    Ethiopia has huge renewable energy potential. Its government estimates the country to produce roughly 45GW of hydropower alone, though only 5% of this potential has yet been realised

  • US airports – hashtag flying too

    Everyone has an airport horror story and – curiously – many of them occur in America. For a First World nation that embraced flight early as the favoured mode of transport, it remains a curiosity that the user experience is so… Third World

  • Italy's infrastructure under pressure

    At a time when Italy is in urgent need of investment in infrastructure, a number of projects are suffering delays due to indebted construction companies and political pressures. A dispute between the national government and the EU is creating economic uncertainty, and the recent Morandi bridge disaster is casting a dark shadow over all private sector-led projects in the country

  • Brazilian power buyers flock to 'free' market

    Private power purchase agreements, increasingly prevalent in developed countries and some developing nations such as Mexico, are on the rise in Brazil

  • Thailand – transport of delight

    Casting an eye around the global infra market for this week’s missive, the first thought was to write about American airports, but Thanksgiving put the kibosh on that. The second option was PPP across Asia Pacific, but that’s just too much shoe-horn into one story. Then, after a few calls with chums in Singapore, the eye fell on Thailand… and stayed there

  • Sakaka solar PV, Saudi Arabia

    The 300MW Sakaka solar PV tender attracted two world record-breaking solar tariffs, and demonstrates market appetite for Saudi Arabia's nascent renewables programme

  • Filling the void: corporate PPAs in Ireland

    With Ireland’s renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFIT) schemes slowly coming to an end – and increasing confusion around the new support scheme RESS – Irish developers are increasingly looking to corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs)

  • The Caribbean – welcome to PPParadise

    Many people find it hard to look beyond sun-drenched beaches and cocktails when it comes to the Caribbean. But with 28 countries and a combined population of 42.5 million, there’s a strong argument for rebranding it “the land of sun, sea and PPP”… if it can follow the example of Jamaica

  • Philippines: Build, Build, Build

    The Philippines has gone beyond its historically mediocre growth pattern to become one of the fastest growing nations in Southeast Asia. However, the country still suffers high levels of unemployment and poverty, and its infrastructure is crumbling

  • Airports – a folly by any other NAIM

    The worst thing any country with ambitions to drive an infrastructure investment programme can do is to cancel a headline project when it’s well on the way through construction

  • Mexico: The more renewables, the better

    Mexico has seen a rapid rise in renewables development over the last five years, with the Mexican Secretariat of Energy in October reporting a 35% increase in installed renewable energy capacity

  • US and China – first responders

    The US Senate on 3 October passed the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act. It aims to facilitate the investment of $60 billion in developing countries through a newly formed development finance agency – the US International Development Finance Corporation

  • PPP – drip, drip… silence

    Throughout history the UK has been responsible for numerous infrastructure inventions that have rocked the world – from the jet engine through to pneumatic tyres, the telephone, railways, good old tar macadam… and PPP

  • Qatar’s infrastructure race to 2022 and beyond

    In September, Qatar’s Minister of Municipality and Environment HE Mohammed bin Abdullah al Rumaihi unveiled the Gulf state’s plans to set aside around $5.49 billion in 2019 for the ongoing revamp of Doha’s infrastructure in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup

  • Powering down Peru's renewable energy auctions

    Despite being a steadily growing investment grade economy with a relatively stable currency and consolidated rule of law, Peru has in recent time not received as much attention from international energy developers and investors as some of its LatAm peers. This has much to do with the sense that Peru has overbuilt its power market

  • Policy shaping Australian renewables landscape

    Australia's National Energy Guarantee may have been abandoned by new prime minister Scott Morrison, but appetite for renewables investments in the country remains strong, especially among infrastructure funds

  • EIB… something for the weekend?

    Back in the PPP pipeline days, you could set timing on the project finance of any old piece of European infrastructure by the tired mantra of lenders intoning: “And… yes… you can count on the EIB taking half the debt”

  • PABs: favoured financing

    With a sizable chunk of funding still available to developers, private activity bonds look set to be the gift that keeps on giving despite the growing availability of private placements