Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In or around November 2022, a syndicate of 22 lenders — including Bank of China — entered into a $5.65 billion USD syndicated loan to CHPE LLC — a New York-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly-owned by TDI-USA Holdings LLC (sometimes TDI or Transmission Developers), a Blackstone, Inc. subsidiary — for the Champlain Hudson Power Express Transmission Line Construction Project. The facility included a $400 million USD revolver tranche and a $5.245 billion USD green loan tranche. Both carried a maturity period of seven years. BOC contributed $100 million USD to the $5.245 billion USD green loan tranche. The following lenders contributed the following amounts to the tranche: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) ($343 million USD), Citigroup ($25 million USD), CoBank ($300 million USD), Crédit Agricole Group ($200 million USD), Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec ($275 million USD), Fifth Third Bank ($276 million USD), HSBC ($270 million USD), ING Bank ($300 million USD), KfW IPEX Bank ($95 million USD), Korea Development Bank ($200 million USD), Mizuho Financial Group ($362 million USD), Morgan Stanley ($150 million USD), MUFG Bank ($362 million USD), National Bank of Canada ($275 million USD),Royal Bank of Canada ($300 million USD), Santander ($250 million USD), Société Générale (SocGen) ($362 million USD), Standard Chartered Bank ($200 million USD), TD Securities ($300 million USD), and Truist Bank ($300 million USD). ING arranged and acted as ESG coordinator on the the green loan. BOC did not contribute to the $400 million USD revolver tranche. However, the following lenders contributed the following amounts: CIBC ($64.03 million USD), Desjardins Securities Inc. ($25 million USD), Fifth Third Bank ($24.4 million USD), HSBC ($30 million USD), Mizuho Financial Group ($77.2 million USD), MUFG Bank ($77.2 million USD), National Bank of Canada ($25 million USD), and SocGen ($77.2 million USD). The proceeds would be used by the borrower to construct the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a 339-mile (approximately 546 kilometers) fully underground high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line. CHPE will deliver approximately 1,250 MW of hydropower from supplier Hydro-Québec, in Quebec, through Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, to an HVDC converter station in Astoria, Queens, located in the New York City metro area. The project is expected to decrease annual CO2 emissions by approximately 3.9 million metric tons. Transmission Developers Inc. (TDI) developed the project. CHPE uses HVDC Light converter stations, supplied by Hitachi Energy Ltd. (formerly Hitachi ABB Power Grids), to harness DC power from Canada to AC power use in New York's AC grid. NKT A/S is supplying the cables and serving as the submarine cable installation contractor, and Kiewit Power Constructors Co. is leading the on-land construction. Transmission Developers Inc. executed a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the New York State Building and Construction Trades to create union jobs. Additionally, the contractors Hitachi, NKT, and Kiewit entered into PLAs with building and electrical trade unions to use union labor for CHPE construction. A groundbreaking was held at Whitehall Castle in New York on November 30, 2022, and the line is expected to be fully completed and operational by spring 2026. Upon its completion, the project will enter a 40-year take-or pay, fixed-rate, firm electric transmission rights purchase agreement (TRA) with a Hydro-Québec affiliate for the full (100% of) transmission capacity. CHPE has also pledged and disbursed large sums to community and environmental organizations. Over 35 years, CHPE pledged $117 million USD to the Champlain-Hudson Environmental Trust (CHET) for the protection and restoration of bodies of water that may be impacted by the project. Similarly, CHPE established a $40 million USD Green Economy Fund to support climate industry training programs in underserved communities; CHPE spent the first $2.5 million USD in late 2022. In late 2022 CHPE also further disbursed $12 million to counties hosting the line for their industrial development organizations and $2 million to construct both the Queens Variety Boys and Girls Club STEM lab and a Nature Center on Randall’s Island. The green loan won the 2023 IJGlobal ESG Award for its scope, green impacts, and community efforts. In January 2024, CHPE applied for further financial assistance from the New York City Industrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) for the converter station construction and installation in Astoria, Queens. In January 2025, CHPE filed to construct four permanent above-ground four Cable Monitoring and Telecommunications (CMT) stations with the New York Public Service Commission. These CMT huts in the following towns: of Putnam (Washington County), Ballston (Saratoga County), Catskill (Greene County), and Stony Point (Rockland County). The state of New York solicited public feedback for the amendment through February 24, 2025.
Staff comments
1. The project website can be found here: https://chpexpress.com/ 2. The following entities played the following roles on the deal: Marsh & McLennan acted as insurance adviser to the sponsor; King & Spalding and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal advice to the sponsor; Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal adviser to lender(s); and Lummus Consultants International provided technical advice to lender(s).