Ayala-led ACEN Corporation and its partner-firms have signed financial agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other lenders for their 600-megawatt Monsoon wind farm project estimated to cost over $1 billion in Sekong and Attapeu provinces in Laos.
According to ACEN, ADB is the lead arranger for the project’s financing. The other lenders are Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, Japan International Corporation Agency, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Kasikornbank, and Siam Commercial Bank.
The project funding will top $1.0 billion; and it was announced last month that ADB will be providing $692.55 million non-recourse financing package to the project, which is touted as the largest wind farm development in the region.
ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd. is one of the project developers of the Monsoon wind farm project; with 24-percent economic stake in the venture.
The other key partners are BCPG Public Company Limited of Thailand; Diamond Generating Asia which is a subsidiary of Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corporation; Impact Electron Siam Co. Limited; STP&I Public Company Limited; and SMP Consultation Sole Company Limited.
While the wind farm will be located in Laos, it was specified that the 25-year power purchase agreement for the facility’s generated electricity had been sealed with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) where the power will be transmitted via a 500-kilovolt transmission line from its neighbor country.
There was no figure given on the selling cost of power to the Vietnamese state-owned power utility. The wind farm installation is expected to start commercial operation by the end of 2025.
“Monsoon Wind is one of the key projects in the Vietnamese government’s electricity development plan,” ACEN noted, adding that this is “expected to alleviate the electricity supply-demand challenges in Vietnam, while the country pushes through with their decarbonization goal.”
As conveyed by ACEN International CEO Patrice Clause, power demand in Vietnam has been escalating due to buoyed economic activity in the country post-pandemic, emphasizing that “the MOU (memorandum of understanding) between Laos and Vietnam unlocks a new avenue of providing more power to Vietnam while serving as a catalyst for more cross-border power sharing in the region.”
Vietnam is one of the offshore host-markets of the key renewable energy projects being pursued by the Ayala energy firm, primarily for wind and solar farm installations.
