AFD invests EUR24 million in EVN’s solar project
AFD invests EUR24 million in EVN’s solar project
The Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) on October 28 signed a credit agreement with the French Development Agency (AFD) to borrow 24.2 million euros to develop the Se San 4 solar power project in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, allowing EVN to proceed with plans to produce greener energy.
The loan, which does not have a Government guarantee, will be used to fund the solar power plant project, with a designed capacity of 49 megawatt peak, near the Se San 4 hydropower plant. AFD will sponsor the whole project’s engineering, procurement and construction costs.
Aside from the Se San 4 solar power project, AFD has also pledged loans without a Government guarantee for the Ialy hydropower expansion project and a project to develop power grids in the south. Also, the French organization is considering a loan for the Hoa Binh hydropower expansion project.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Nguyen Xuan Nam, deputy general director of EVN, said that EVN greatly appreciated the support and cooperation of AFD in offering loans without a Government guarantee for EVN’s power projects, despite the public debt ceiling and the Vietnamese Government restricting or completely stopping the provision of guarantees for EVN's power projects.
EVN has to diversify its financial mobilization channels to meet its high investment needs in the years to come, said Nam.
AFD is the first and only sponsor to provide loans without a Government guarantee for EVN’s power projects. Its first loan package without a Government guarantee, worth US$100 million, for funding the Huoi Quang hydropower plant project was signed in 2010.
