OFID signs $25mn loan for Armenia’s power plant
This facility will be Armenia’s first greenfield project-financed power plant
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), has signed a loan of more than $25 million with ArmPower in Armenia. The loan is to help expand and diversify power generation sources developed by the private sector in the country.
The ArmPower is a special purpose consortium owned by Siemens Project Ventures (part of Germany’s Siemens Financial Services) and Renco power (owned by Italian Renco Spa and Simest Spa)
OFID’s financial assistance will help fund a 250 MW gas-fired combined-cycle cogeneration power plant with annual production of up to 2,000 GW hours and will be Armenia’s first greenfield project-financed power plant. It will also create local employment during the construction and operation of the power plant while boosting sector efficiency and reliability, according to a report by WAM.
Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, director-general at OFID said: “OFID provides loans to companies for projects with development aims that are well defined, such as to improve energy access and security in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7.”
He also said that they are pleased to be working with their partners on a transaction that supports the energy strategy of the government of Armenia and that this illustrates how the private sector can help to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
WAM also reported that for the transaction, OFID partnered with the International Finance Corporation, the lead arranger of the financing package and its syndications platform known as the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Programme well as the Asia Development Bank and the German development finance institution, Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft.
