China Eximbank provides $99.45 million preferential buyer's credit for 51MW Adama I Wind Farm Project (Linked to Record ID#30241)

Project narrative

On July 19, 2009, the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia and China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) signed a $1 billion infrastructure cooperation agreement, which proposed 7 projects to be financed by China Eximbank through its preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) window. One of the projects that was identified was the Adama Wind Farm Project. One day later, on July 20, 2009, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) signed an MOU with the Hydrochina-CGCOC JV (a joint venture between Hydrochina Corporation, and CGC Overseas Construction Co. Ltd. (CGCOC) to pursue the Adama Wind Farm Project in the form of a financing agreement and an EPC contract. Then, on September 22, 2009, EEPCO signed an EPC preliminary agreement for the 51MW Adama I Wind Farm Project with Hydrochina-CGCOC JV. Hydrochina Corporation subsequently undertook a project feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment with support from EEPCO’s wind study center. Then, on November 23, 2010, China Eximbank and the Government of Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development signed a $99,450,000 (ETB 1,646,523,179) preferential buyer credit (PBC) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK PBC 2010 (31) TOTAL NO. (138) 1420303052010211538] for the 51MW Adama I Wind Farm Project. On January 21, 2011, the Ethiopian Parliament and the Prime Minister's Office approved the loan agreement. At the end of the same month, the Government of Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development signed an on-lending agreement with EEPCO. The loan officially went into effect on May 25, 2011. The borrowing terms of the loan were as follows: a 20.178 year maturity, a 7.665 year grace period, and a 2% interest rate. The loan's first and last scheduled principal payment dates were July 21, 2018 and January 21, 2031, respectively. Its first and last scheduled interest payment dates were July 21, 2011 and January 21, 2031, respectively. The ultimate borrower (EEPCO) was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance approximately 85% of the total cost of a $117,994,500 commercial (EPC) contract [No. 33.20/12/09] between EEPCO and Hydrochina-CGCOC JV, which was signed on November 28, 2009. The Ethiopian Government directly funded the remaining 15% of the commercial contract cost (approximately $18,544,500). According to the Government of Ethiopia’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the $99,450,000 (ETB 1,646,523,179) loan (PBC) achieved a 97% disbursement rate, with China Eximbank making 7 loan disbursements (worth ETB 1,603,194,607) between 2011 and 2017: an ETB 298,469,388 disbursement on July 7, 2011, an ETB 682,737,266 disbursement on January 8, 2012, an ETB 266,957,500 disbursement on July 7, 2012, an ETB 74,386,618 disbursement on October 10, 2012, an ETB 101,657,404 disbursement on January 8, 2013, an ETB 178,986,403 disbursement on July 7, 2013, and an ETB 27 disbursement on November 15, 2017. The purpose of the project was to install a 51MW wind farm — with a total of 34 towers each generating 1.5 MW — on a site located 95 km east of Addis Ababa, near the city of Adama in Oromia. Hydrochina-CGCOC JV was the general EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. However, consultancy services were provided by the Addis Ababa University Faculty of Technology, while a Chinese firm called Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (or ‘Goldwind’) provided the wind turbines for the project. The EPC contract went into effect on November 12, 2009. The project was originally scheduled to commence on November 12, 2009, and reach completion on December 31, 2010. However, construction did not begin until June 2011. Then, an installation and hoisting ceremony for the project's wind turbines was held on April 21, 2012. Construction ended in June 2012. Then, the wind farm began commercial operations in August 2012. According to the CGCOC, the wind farm began full operations in September 2012. An inauguration ceremony for the first phase of the Adama Wind Project was held on December 1, 2012. There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan for the Adama I Wind Farm Project may have financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender. According to the Government of Ethiopia’s Aid Management Platform, as of September 2019, ICBC suspended about $67 million worth of loan disbursements 'due to [the] cross-default situation of the country’ (see Record ID#58616). Then, in August 2021, China Eximbank withheld $339 million loan disbursements for 12 projects and halted project implementation due to Government of Ethiopia’s rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves and debt sustainability challenges. Demisu Lemma, the Director of Chinese Cooperation at the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance, noted at the time that the Ethiopian Government was in discussions with China Eximbank about a potential debt rescheduling (that would involved a 5-year maturity extension and a 1-year grace period extension). Then, after considerable delay, the G20 Common Framework (CF) creditor committee for Ethiopia convened in September 2021, with the French Government and the Chinese Government serving as co-chairs. The CF debt rescheduling talks were still ongoing in mid-2023.