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Overview

China Merchants Bank provides a €186 million EUR loan to ACE Investment Fund to finance its 49% stake in a 548 MW portfolio of operational wind farms in Poland and Italy

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$185,005,219
Commitment Year•2022Country of Activity•PolandDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•Cayman IslandsOverseas Jurisdiction•LuxembourgSector•EnergyFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Nov 25, 2022

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd.

Receiving agencies

State-owned companies

  • ACE Investment Fund LP

Loan description

China Merchants Bank provides a €186 million EUR loan to ACE Investment Fund to finance its 49% stake in a 548 MW portfolio of operational wind farms in Poland and Italy

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On November 25, 2022, financial close was reached on a deal in which the Luxembourg Branch of China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. entered into a €186.00 million EUR ($193.84 million USD) syndicated loan agreement with ACE Investment Fund LP — a Cayman Islands-incorporated clean energy fund wholly-owned by China Three Gorges Hong Kong Ltd (CTG HK), a fully-owned subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) — to invest in renewable energy assets, including financing its 49% stake in a 548 MW portfolio of operational wind farms in Poland and Italy, consisting of 418 MW In Poland under the Green Certificates scheme, on average, until 2027 and 130 MW with feed-in-premium (FiP) or contract for difference (CfD) in place, on average, until 2033. This loan was secured (i.e. collateralized). ACE Investment purchased the 49% stake in October 2016 for €363 million EUR from EDP Renováveis, S.A. via its wholly-owned subsidiaries ACE Poland S.A.R.L. and ACE Italy S.A.R.L.. On December 29, 2023, EDP Renováveis, S.A. agreed to buy-back its 49% stake in the entire 970 MW wind farm portfolio, including the 548 MW Polish and Italian wind farms and 422 MW of Portuguese wind farms, from ACE Investment Fund I LP and ACE Investment Fund II LP for €570 million EUR. The acquisition was completed on October 10, 2024, with a revised price of €580 million EUR.

Staff comments

1. The specific use of the loan is unclear, as the borrower already owned the stake. It is possible the loan was used to refinance debt associated with it. This issue merits further investigation. 2. As the portfolio was overwhelmingly based in Poland, AidData has considered Poland to be the country of activity and thus the recipient.