The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a multilateral development agency and part of the World Bank Group, has said it provided a 15-year loan over $228 million to fund LNG-to Power project in Porto do Açu, Brazil. GNA also received BRL1.76 billion ($457 million) in financing from the development banks of Brazil and Germany, BNDES and KfW Ipex-Bank.
Gás Natural Açu (GNA), a joint venture of Prumo Logistica, BP and Siemens, is building the 1.3 GW project in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Siemens owns one third in the project company, following an equity investment.
The BNDES-KfW part of the funding covers 39% of the total GNA1 project costs of R$4.5 billion, the two banks stated. The financing deal was structured in a way that BNDES will provide the credit while KfW will be responsible for guaranteeing the operation, supported by the German export credit agency Hermes.
The deal structure could serve as a blueprint for future infrastructure financing. “More than an operation, what we are building here is a business model that can be used in other operations,” said Dyogo Oliveira, president of BNDES. For the Brazilian development bank, the Açu Port venture is the the first LNG thermoelectric plant it is financing, in an unprecedented partnership with KfW.
Siemens to co-finances, build GNA1 project
Gás Natural Açu (GNA) has selected Siemens for the turnkey construction of the integrated LNG-to-Power project (1.3 GW). To secure this deal, Siemens said it agreed to provide an equity investment, without specifying details, and now owns one-third of the project company.
The German engineering company will co-developed the overall 'GNA 1’ project and will build the CCGT under a turnkey contract in consortium with the Brazilian construction company Andrade Gutierrez. Construction works already started in 2018, and the plant is slated to start operation at the beginning of 2021.
Looking ahead, there is “substantial scope for expansion,” Siemens told LNG Journal, as developers already won licences to implement a second CCGT unit, ‘GNA 2’, which will bring the overall capacity to 3 GW.
“Planning for second project phase – comprising further power units – is also at an early stage,” a Siemens executive said, indicating that GNA holds an environmental license for up to 6.4 GW.
