Standard Chartered has advised Dongyang Engineering and Construction (DYEC) on the development, structuring and financing for the world’s largest photovoltaic power plant in Sinan-gun, South Korea.

 

Financing of the 20MW photovoltaic power plant is provided through non-recourse project finance comprising US$120mn of senior debt and US$20mn of subordinated debt.

 

Standard Chartered, through its Korean subsidiary SC First Bank, underwrote and syndicated the project finance facility to four financial institutions: Kumho Life Insurance; Tong Yang Life Insurance; National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives; and Kwang Ju Bank.

 

Photovoltaic technology uses solar cells or solar photovoltaic arrays to convert light from the sun into electricity.

 

The power plant is wholly owned by DYEC, which is the Engineering Procurement and Construction contractor.  Sun Technics of Germany is providing the solar photovoltaic system. Sun Technics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Conergy, which is the largest downstream solar company in the world.

 

When completed in 2008, the power plant will supply 27,000MWh of electricity annually to the region’s residential and industrial consumers under a 15-year fixed tariff arrangement with a Korean government entity.

 

For this project, Chul Bohm Kim, head of project finance in SC First Bank, Korea and Shane Bush, Standard Chartered’s global head of renewable energy, were the project team leaders.

 

This project demonstrates that the Korean energy sector, which has recently begun to focus on renewable energy, is vibrant and committed to boosting domestic, sustainable supply, claims the bank.