Latest Analysis
Oil majors – shuffling along the Road to Damascus
Oil & Gas Asia PacificIn a volte-face that’s enough to make a North Korean dictator blush, the oil majors are continuing to trip over their feet in a bid to reinvent themselves as good guys, having spent the last century-plus playing the black-hat cowboy
Arroyo Seco and Timbúes CHPs, Argentina
Project finance is finally taking off in Argentina’s energy sector after a years-long dry spell, with only a precious few projects making it to financial close in 2017. Now Argentina’s second-largest energy producer Albanesi Energia has closed the financing for two cogeneration heat and power plant projects in Santa Fe
More to Colombia than just 4G
Transport Latin AmericaColombian cities are following the lead of the capital Bogota and are trying to launch a pipeline of infra PPPs
Infra funds – it’s hammer time
Oil & Gas EuropeInfrastructure’s full of surprises. Hardly a week goes by that the eyebrows don’t shoot up to the hairline (still got one) over some development or another. And this last week has seen more than its fair share of surprises
Infra fund activity – lot more than you'd think
Oil & Gas EuropeAs a young journo working the local press world in 1990s north east Scotland, an old editor – a grizzled hack bearing the scars of hard-living hackery – once said: “Angus, the difference between doctors and journalists is that doctors get to bury their mistakes, ours are out there for everyone to see”
Rantau Dedap geothermal, Indonesia
Renewables Asia PacificIt took four years for the sponsors of the Rantau Dedap geothermal power plant to reach financial close on the $700 million project in South Sumatra, Indonesia
DEWA CSP
Renewables MENAAcwa Power and Shanghai Electric’s 700MW CSP project in Dubai represents the world’s largest thermal solar development. The sponsors are looking to finance the $3.9 billion development with a raft of European, Chinese and regional lenders under a soft mini-perm structure
Friday the 13th – Nightmare on London Streets
Transport EuropeLike all best horror stories, this one is set in the near future – in this case a mere six months hence – a half-year since the C Virus ravaged the market, slashing value from listed infra funds and reducing managers to husks of their former selves
Don Rodrigo solar, Spain
Renewables EuropeThis week German developer BayWa r.e. signed a 15-year PPA with Norwegian utility Statkraft for the 170MWp no-subsidy solar PV project in Spain, extending the tenors for PPAs in the market. Spanish and German banks are preparing to back PPAs with long-term senior debt as soon as this year
US upstream intention
Oil & Gas North AmericaRebounding oil prices saw a surge in upstream oil & gas investments in the US last year, but that enthusiasm may be more muted in 2018
Turkey – sun, wind and political risk
Renewables EuropeIt’s tiresome as hell, repetitive to a fault and dull as ditch water. Aren’t you just sick of the daily force-feed news that X offshore wind farm is the biggest ever, zero bids will soon have developers paying for the privilege, Y solar park achieved the lowest rate, and panels are so cheap they will be handing them out for free with tubes of sun lotion?
Lebanon’s designs on PPP
Renewables MENALebanon has unveiled plans for a $22 billion Infrastructure Investment Programme (IIP) to be implemented over the coming 12 years, with $6 billion of that designated as PPPs. The programme opens up opportunities for private investors to tap a market desperately in need of key infrastructure – but which has had little PPP success in the past
Power push in Bangladesh
Power Asia PacificBangladesh has the potential for significant economic growth but still suffers from huge unmet power demand. The country is trying to address this power deficit by investing in renewables and conventional power sources
Australia: Sydney congestion
Transport Asia PacificInfrastructure Australia's priority list for 2018 is focusing on resolving congestion in Sydney, the country’s largest city
Çanakkale Bridge, Turkey
Transport EuropeTurkey’s north western regions have seen a flurry of transport projects of late, with bridges – specifically the third Bosporus bridge, which opened to traffic on 26 August 2016, and the recently financed Çanakkale Bridge – the crowning glory of the programme
Samurai loans – new master for Ronin lenders
Water Asia PacificA wind of change is sweeping the Australian financing market with MUFG closing syndication on its second refi of a major piece of availability-based infrastructure today, leveraging the fearsome might of Samurai lenders