USD692.55 million financing package signed for 600 MW wind farm in Laos

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a US$692.55 million nonrecourse project financing package with Monsoon Wind Power Company Limited (Monsoon) to build a 600 MW wind power plant in Sekong and Attapeu provinces in the southern region of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to export and sell power to neighboring Vietnam.

As a sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, ADB has arranged, structured, and syndicated the entire financing package—the largest syndicated renewable project financing transaction among ASEAN countries to date. The package comprises a US$100 million A loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources, a US$150 million syndicated B loan, US$50 million in concessional financing, US$382.55 million in parallel loans, and a US$10 million grant. 

The B loan comprises US$100 million from Siam Commercial Bank and US$50 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation while the concessional financing administered by ADB comprises US$20 million from Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP) and US$30 million from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia (CFPS, CFPS II). Parallel loans include US$120 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, US$100 million from Kasikorn Bank, US$72.55 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, US$60 million from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, and US$30 million from the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited. A US$10 million grant from ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF) – Private Sector Window (ADB-PSW) will help mitigate key project risks, including potential curtailment risk, which is a key bankability issue for lenders.

Comprising 133 wind turbines, the project is expected to be the largest wind power plant in Southeast Asia and the first in the Lao PDR once commissioned.