Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On October 27, 2015, financial close was reached on a deal in a syndicate of five lenders — including the New York Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $899.70 million USD senior secured syndicated debt package agreement with Hummel Station, LLC — a United States-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly-owned by Panda Power Funds, LLC, a private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas — for the 1,124 MW Hummel Station Project. This loan was divided into five tranches: a $250.00 million USD senior secured term loan A tranche with a maturity period of six years and six months, a final maturity date of April 27, 2022, and an interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 375 basis points (bps); a $460.00 million USD senior term loan B tranche (divided into a $340 million USD tranche and a $120 million USD delayed draw term loan tranche) with a maturity period of seven years, a final maturity date of October 27, 2022, and an interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 600 bps with a 1.0% floor; a $10.00 million USD revolving facility tranche with a maturity period of six years and six months and a final maturity date of April 27, 2022; a $157.50 million USD letter of credit and guarantees tranche with a maturity period of six years and six months and a final maturity date of April 27, 2022; and a $22.20 million USD letter of credit tranche with a maturity period of six years and six months and a final maturity date of April 27, 2022. Term loan A and term loan B were secured by (i.e. collateralized against) a first lien. ICBC contributed $125.00 million USD to the $250 million USD term loan A tranche, as captured by Record ID#108265. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the tranche: ING Group N.V. ($48.10 million USD), Investec Inc. ($36.90 million USD), and KeyBank ($40.00 million USD). ICBC contributed $48.00 million USD to the $460 million USD term loan B tranche, as captured by Record ID#108266. Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC (GSLP) contributed $412.00 million USD. ICBC contributed $5.00 million USD to the $10 million USD revolving facility tranche, as captured by Record ID#108267. Investec Inc. contributed $412.00 million USD. ICBC committed $6.25 million USD to the $157.5 million USD letter of credit and guarantee tranche. AidData does not consider letters of credit to be flows. In addition to ICBC, the following actors contributed to the tranche: Investec Inc. ($6.25 million USD), Siemens Financial Services Inc. ($125.00 million USD as equity), and Bechtel International ($20.00 million USD). Goldman Sachs solely provided the $22.2 million USD letter of credit tranche. ICBC, GSLP, and Investec Inc served as joint lead arrangers for the senior debt financing. GSLP also acted as sole bookrunner. The proceeds were used by the borrower to finance the construction, operation, and maintenance, fund required reserve accounts, fund interest during construction, and pay for transaction-related fees and expenses of the 1,124 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle electric generating power plant, Hummel Station, located on a 19-acre site on the west bank of the Susquehanna River in Shamokin Dam Borough on the a 200-acre brownfield site of, and immediately adjacent to, the retired Sunbury coal-fired power plant, which it would use its existing electrical interconnection, water intake and storm water runoff infrastructure for, near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. The plant would consist of three SGT6-5000F gas turbines, one SST6-5000 steam turbine, three SGen6-1000A air cooled generators, one hydrogen cooled SGen6-2000H generator, three NEM DrumPlus HRSGs, and the SPPA-T3000 control system provided by Siemens. The plant would receive 180,000 dekatherms per day of Marcellus Shale gas via the MARC 1 and Transcontinental regional gas pipelines and sent power through the 500 kV Susquehanna-Roseland Electric Reliability Transmission Project. The plant would sell its energy into the PJM Interconnection and be capable of powering over one million homes in Pennsylvania, and act as a baseload facility. The plant included the latest emissions control technology, reportingly making it one of the cleanest natural gas-fueled power plants in the United States. As a coal-to-natural gas power project, the new plant would supply 180% more power than the coal plant, reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide by over 90% compared to the coal plant, and use 97% less water for cooling purposes than the coal plant. The project was expected to create approximately 900 jobs during construction, 35 direct long-term jobs to run it once complete, and 52 indirect jobs to support it. As the anchor tenant in the 192-acre Sunbury Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone (KOEZ), the plant would also support additional investment at the site of the retired coal plant. In addition to the debt, Panda Power Funds contributed $384 million USD in equity for the $1.2837 billion USD project. Pennsylvania Air Plan Approval 55-00001G was been issued by the state government for the project. Siemens Energy Inc. was contracted to provide the power island package (i.e. the turbines, generators, and control systems) and Bechtel Infrastructure & Power Corporation was contracted to provide for the engineering and procurement for the balance of the plant, and the installation, construction and commissioning of it on a fixed-price contract. Construction began on June 25, 2015, with a planned construction time of approximately 30 months and anticipated date of substantial completion in the first quarter of 2018, with a guaranteed commercial operations date of February 28, 2018. The project was completed on July 17, 2018. In September 2021, a syndicate of lenders — not including ICBC — entered into a $655 million USD loan agreement with LS Power to refinance the debt on the Hummel Station, including the 2015 loan.