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Latest North America Analysis
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University of Iowa Utility System, US
Social & Defence North AmericaSince financial close of the University of Iowa’s Utility System, the US P3 market has seen an aggressive uptick in colleges seeking private partners upgrade and operate cleaner, more efficient systems. Investors, meanwhile, see these transactions as both straightforward and lucrative
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Falling off a cliff – infra style
Oil & Gas North AmericaAs you look out there – virtually, of course, as you shouldn’t be going further than the end of your road unless it’s to load up with a couple of hundred-weight of bog roll – it’s a curiously vibrant market… for now. But dark clouds are massing...
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Primary Energy Recycling Corporation, US
Renewables North AmericaWind and solar are the obvious choices for sustainability-focused energy infrastructure investors, but for one fund manager, a portfolio of waste-heat-to-power plants supplying steel mills in the Midwest ticked all the boxes
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Infra technology – donkeys led by geeks
Telecoms North AmericaIf the coronavirus lockdown has taught us anything, it is that we’re more reliant now on technology than we ever have been to fulfil our functions… and you better believe this reliance is going to grow in the coming months/years
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More smoke than fire in standalone batteries
Renewables North AmericaA coterie of developers, project finance lenders and equity investors have been jockeying for position on the front line of a widely-tipped tidal wave of standalone battery storage deals for years, but with the exception of a few high-profile deals, so far there's been a lot more talk than action
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Central Penn Gas Pipeline, Pennyslvania
Oil & Gas North AmericaOne the last remaining publicly-listed renewable energy yield companies in the US, NextEra Energy Partners, made a major fossil fuel investment last year when it acquired a stake in the 185-mile Central Penn gas pipeline in Pennsylvania for $1.37 billion. The financing included tightly-priced term debt and a complex convertible equity deal
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The great infra coverage up
Transport North AmericaA significant date in the project finance calendar – 31 March – slid past this week with little remark, but as we cringe our way through the financial Armageddon that is coronavirus, it’s unlikely such popular interest payment and calculation dates will be treated in the future in quite so blasé a manner
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Stir crazy and staying safe
Transport North AmericaWe’re all in the same boat now – moving like cagey tigers in our allotted territories, wading through thousands of unnecessary emails, wrestling with yesterday’s wonder technology innovation… all the while maintaining an ostensibly-genial appearance for the nearest and dearest
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Historic treasury yield lows inspire mixed PF forecasts
North AmericaHistoric low Treasury yields resulting from Covid-19 and oil-price fears have been seized on by project finance officials as an opportunity for refinancing and hedging to lock in rock-bottom rates. But some market participants are less sanguine, warning of a possible credit crunch
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Friday 13th – nightmares abound
Renewables North AmericaWhen Friday The Thirteenth rolls around and the mind turns to the darker aspects of work in search of an editorial, it usually takes longer for a theme to emerge from the maelstrom of global infra/energy news
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Disappointing bids hamper generation auctions
Renewables North AmericaDespite the wall of capital chasing North American power and renewable energy assets, a number of sale processes for individual projects and portfolios have recently stalled or been scrapped, suggesting that investors with cash to deploy are remaining disciplined
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New England Power, US
Power North AmericaHaving plucked two aging Massachusetts peakers out of GenOn Energy’s bankruptcy proceedings in 2018, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners repackaged them last year into a 1.6GW portfolio called New England Power that proved highly palatable to project finance lenders
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Hurontario Light Rail, Ontario
Transport North AmericaLate last year the long awaited C$2.1 billion Hurontario Light Rail Transit (LRT) development, that will cut the commute from Mississauga to Brampton by 10 minutes, reached financial close
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Pipeline cyberattack highlights risk to energy infra
Oil & Gas North AmericaA hacking attack recently shut down an entire US gas pipeline asset for two days, underscoring concerns raised by experts and advocacy groups about the growing threat of cyberattacks in energy and other infrastructure sectors
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IRS guidance "big win" for carbon capture tax equity
Power North AmericaAfter two years of waiting, tax equity investors finally have much-needed guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on the framework for investments in carbon capture and storage projects
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Miami-Dade Courthouse, Florida
Social & Defence North AmericaAfter years of delays, Plenary Justice Miami has reached financial close on the Miami-Dade County civil and probate courthouse that will replace an existing courthouse so old that it once held a trial for Chicago mobster Al Capone
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SOFR, so good?
North AmericaAs lenders and borrowers prepare to say goodbye to Libor, also known as “the most important number in finance,” are project finance professionals ready?
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Smart Cities – Fear and Loathing in Toronto
Telecoms North AmericaThe conservative – definitely lower case c – nature of Torontarians is being pushed to breaking point by ambitious plans to build a Smart City on their doorstep, giving the international market an ideal case study for the roll out of Intelligent Infrastructure… or possibly how not to do it
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Gulf Plains Wind acquisition, US
Renewables North AmericaUS-based fund manager Harbert Management Corporation almost doubled its renewable energy holdings at the end of last year when it acquired a stake in an 812MW wind portfolio − a deal it ultimately opted to finance in the bank market through a holding company called Gulf Plains Wind