China Eximbank provides $299.88 million preferential buyer’s credit for 318MW Jerada Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project

On September 26, 2014, China Eximbank and the Government of Morocco's National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (French: Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable or ONEE) signed a $299.88 million preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for the 318MW Jerada Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. The estimated borrowing terms of the PBC are follows: a 0% interest rate, no grace period, and a 19.9-year maturity. The borrower was to use the loan proceeds to finance approximately 85% of the cost of an EPC (commercial) contract, which it signed with Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation III (SEPCOIII, SEPCO3, or 山东电力建设第三工程公司) on July 25, 2013 (following an international call for tenders). The specified duration of the EPC contract was 36 months, beginning on December 31, 2014 and ending on December 30, 2017. The purpose of the project was to construct a 318-megawatt coal-fired plant in "Hassi Blal" near the city of Jerada. The location of the plant is close to the country’s border with Algeria and approximately 60 km south of the city of Oujda (in eastern Morocco). The plant was to be built on the same site as an existing 165MW Jerada power plant, thereby increasing total on-site power generation capacity to approximately 483 MW. The existing plant was made up of three 55MW units operating on pulverized coal. Coal transport from the port of Nador was provided by train and truck. The new plant was also designed to operate on pulverized coal and the electricity that it produced was to be evacuated to the Bourdim substation via two new 400 kV transmission lines. Emergency power was to be provided by a new 60 kV transmission line. The two 400 kV lines and the 60 kV line were to be built by ONEE. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 19, 2014. However, construction began on October 3, 2014. The power plant started generating electricity on September 19, 2017 and it was put into commercial operation ahead of schedule on December 18, 2017. Some sources suggest that, upon completion, the power generation capacity of the plant was 350MW rather than 318MW. A post-loan project inspection was undertaken by China Eximbank on June 25, 2019.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 318MW Jerada Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project and the 1X350MW Jerada Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. The French project title is Centrale à charbon de Jerada or Projet d'extension de la centrale thermique de Jerada or Centrale thermique de Jerada. The Chinese project title is 摩洛哥杰拉达项目 or 摩洛哥杰拉达1×350MW超临界燃煤电站. The Arabic project title is محطة جرادة لتوليد الكهرباء تعمل بالفحم or محطة توليد الكهرباء بمدينة جرادة، التي تعمل بالفحم، والتي تبلغ قدرتها 350 ميغاو. 2. Some of the official sources that underpin this project differ on the precise date when the China Eximbank PBC (loan) agreement was finalized. Some identify the loan signature date as September 26, 2014 and others identified the loan signature date as August 11, 2014. 3. Official sources differ on the value of the underlying commercial contract supported by the China Eximbank loan. Some sources put its value at $348 million and other sources put its value at $358 million. 4. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI published in July 2020 and the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020, the face value of this China Eximbank loan is identified as $305 million. AidData relies on the face value of the loan ($299.88 million) that is reported by the borrower (ONEE). 5. Some sources (including SEPCO3 and PowerChina) suggest China Eximbank may have financed this project with a PBC and a government concessional loan (GCL). This issue merits further investigation. 6. The estimated borrowing terms of the loan are drawn from the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System (19.9 year maturity, no grace period, 0% interest rate). However, these terms are substantially different from the typical borrowing terms that apply to preferential buyer's credits from China Eximbank. This issue warrants further investigation. See https://www.dropbox.com/s/2sw4f7gluxa52fk/DRS%20Official%20Commitments%20from%20China%20Through%202021.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/ab8qt4n6jijcbhd/IDS_Average%20interest%20on%20new%20external%20debt%20commitments.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/949n5rctiue6d7c/IDS_Average_grace_period_and_maturity_on_new_external_debt_commitments.xlsx?dl=0

Number of official sources

16

Number of total sources

38