ICBC contributes to syndicated deferred payment (seller’s credit) agreement for 840MW Maisan Combined Cycle Power Plant (MCCPP) Project (Linked to Project ID#91599)

On or around July 25, 2019, a syndicate of Chinese banks (consisting of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Export-Import Bank of China, and China Minsheng Banking Corporation) signed a syndicated deferred payment (seller’s credit) agreement with CITIC Construction Co, Ltd. (CITIC) and Maisan Power Company (MPC) — a special purpose vehicle and subsidiary of Raban Al Safina Group for Energy Projects (RASEP) — for the 840MW Maisan Combined Cycle Power Plant (MCCPP) Project. The estimated monetary value of the syndicated deferred payment (seller’s credit) agreement is $1.7 billion. CITIC is both the project’s EPC contractor and credit provider. Under the terms of the Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA), CITIC will assign receivables under the EPC contract for the plant’s construction to the syndicate of Chinese banks. Upon assignment of the receivables, the syndicate of Chinese banks will then release funds to CITIC so it can discharge its obligations under the DPA as the credit provider. The owner of the project is Raban Al Safina Group for Energy Projects (RASEP). The purpose of the MCCPP is to construct a 840MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power generation facility. Once fully functional, the Maysān combined-cycle power plant is expected to supply enough electricity to power approximately three million Iraqi households and businesses. The Maysān combined-cycle power project is located approximately 20km southeast of Amara, in the Maysān Governate, in southern Iraq. The Maysān combined-cycle power plant will be equipped with two SGT5-4000F gas turbines, one SST5-4000 I-L steam turbine, and three SGen5-2000H generators from Siemens. The facility will also feature SPPA-T3000 automation and control systems, transformers, associated electrical equipment, and the fuel gas system, along with waste heat recovery boiler equipment. The gas turbines come with 15-stage axial flow compressor, and four-stage, air-cooled annular combustion system designed to operate at an exhaust temperature of 599ºC. The design incorporates the hydraulic clearance optimization (HCO) technology to reduce clearance loss and increase gas turbine efficiency. Designed to operate at a frequency of 50Hz, both the gas and steam turbines will have a speed of 3,000rpm. The gas turbines will have an efficiency of 58% in combined-cycle operations. The rated output of the gas and steam turbines will be 329MW each. The other components of the power station will includes the fuel gas supply system with inlet filter, pressure regulating line, gas measurement and ignition gas system, heat exchangers, integrated water tanks, and bypass stacks. CITIC is the general EPC contractor responsible for implementation. However, many other contractors are involved in the project. Siemens was awarded a contract worth approximately £251 million ($314 million) by Maisan Power Company and CITIC for the supply and installation of the turbines and generators of the power plant in July 2019. The scope of this contract also involves a 17-year service agreement. Bertling was contracted for the shipment of gas and steam turbines along with the generators to the Maysān power project site in January 2020. Changsha Wanyang Electromechanical Technology was contracted for the amplification and calling system equipment in 2020. Vorwek-EEE was awarded a subcontract worth £3.58 million ($4.49 million) by Siemens for the supply and installation of the fuel gas supply system. Milbank was engaged in July 2019 to provide financial advisory services on the credit loan facility for the Maysān gas-fired power project. Northwest Power Construction Company was contracted for the EPC management services in June 2019, Hangzhou Boiler Group signed a contract with CITIC for the supply of waste heat boiler equipment in May 2019. Tianjin Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd., (TEPC) won the contract for the civil construction works for the Maysān power project in February 2019. Zhejiang Research Institute of Energy China was engaged for the design of the combined-cycle facility. Construction officially commenced on May 15, 2019. The 1st and 2nd gas turbines were hoisted and successfully installed in September 2020 and December 2020. The power plant was connect to the grid on June 26, 2022. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi attended the power plant commissioning ceremony at 8:00 a.m. Baghdad time on July 3, 2022. The originally anticipated project completion date was March 1, 2021. However, the project encounter a number of implementation obstacles and delays related to COVID-19, extremely high temperatures during the summer, a complex local security situation, and fuel supply delays.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Maysan Combined Cycle Power Plant Project, the Missan Combined Cycle Power Plant Project, the 840MW Maysān Power plant Project. The Arabic project title is محطة كهرباء ميسان. The Chinese project title is 伊拉克米桑联合循环电厂项目 or 伊拉克米桑电厂项目 or 伊拉克米桑80万千瓦联合循环电站项. 2. This project is being implemented on an Independent Power Project (IPP) basis and financed with a mix of debt and equity. Based on a very similar power plant project in Iraq that was also financed with a similar seller’s credit (deferred payment arrangement (see Project ID#65743), AidData assumes debt-to-equity ratio of 85:15. Therefore, the total estimated face value of the syndicated loan is $1.7 billion. The size of each bank’s contribution to the lending syndicate is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes equal contributions ($566,666,666) across the three members of the syndicate. ICBC's contribution is captured via Project ID#65747 and the Export-Import Bank of China's contribution is captured via Project ID#91599. 3. Milbank, a New York City based law firm, served as legal counsel to the lenders. The Milbank team was led by partner Shepard Liu in Beijing and partner Aled Davies in Tokyo, with associates Aaron Mundy in Tokyo, Jenny Zhang in Singapore, and legal assistants Emma Pan in Beijing and Marcia Song in Beijing. 4. The SPV is also known as Maisan Power CCGT. 5. One source (https://www.cici.citic.com/content/details_47_2423.html) refers to this project as being financed through an EPC+F arrangement. 6. In a typical receivables financing agreement (or deferred payment agreement), the company that the project owner in the host country has selected as its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor is also a lender to the project owner. The company assigns receivables under its EPC contract with the project owner to one of or more banks. Upon assignment of receivables, the bank or banks will release funds to the company so it can discharge its obligations under the receivables financing agreement as a lender. Receivables financing is also known as accounts receivable financing (finance) or A/R financing (finance) or 应收账款融资 (in Chinese). These other terms are used because the accounts receivable of a company (i.e., unpaid invoices) are being used as collateral to unlock working capital—typically in the form of a bank loan (‘receivables loan’). Sellers often face cash flow problems when their buyers do not make full payment at the due date of the invoice. A receivables financing arrangement addresses this problem by allowing them to sell their outstanding invoices to a bank at a discounted rate. This approach allows the seller to receive the remaining invoice amount before the due date of the invoice. The bank either gets its money back at invoice maturity through the seller (acting as a collecting agent) or directly from the debtor.

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