Bank of China provides buyer’s credit loan for 2×600 MW Atlas Iskenderun Thermal Power Plant Project

In 2010, the Bank of China signed a buyer’s credit loan agreement with Atlas Enerji Üretim A.Ş. — a special purpose vehicle and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diler Holding S.A. (a private company) — for the 2×600MW Atlas Iskenderun Thermal Power Plant Project. Its face value and borrowing terms are unknown. The buyer’s credit loan was insured by Sinosure. The Turkish government also issued a sovereign guarantee. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance a $680 million EPC contract with China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) and China Power Investment Power Engineering Company Ltd (CPIPEC). The purpose of the project was to construct a 1,200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant (with two, 600 MW power generating units) in the İskenderun 1st Organized Industrial Zone (OSB) near the village of Azganlık, which is located with İskenderun district and Hatay province. The plant was designed to supply power to two steel plants that are also operated by Diler Holding: Diler iron and steel plant and Yacizi Iron and Steel plant. The project was financed and implemented on an independent power project (IPP) basis. Hubei Construction (湖北省工业建筑集团有限公司), CATIC (or AVIC International or 中航国际), CPIPEC (中电投电力工程有限公司), Atlas Energy, and Elektrik Üretim A.Ş were all involved in project implementation. In December 2008, Atlas Enerji Üretim A.Ş. received environmental permits to build the power plant. The power was later suspended due to investment issues and it relaunched in 2010. Construction began on November 10, 2011. The first 600MW unit was commissioned in August 2014 and the second 600MW unit was commissioned in December 2014. The power plant achieved its commercial operation date (COD) on December 19, 2014.

Additional details

1. The Atlas Iskenderun Thermal Power Plant Project is also known as the 2×600MW Super Critical Coal-Fired Iskenderun Power Plant Project or Atlas 2x660MW Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Plant Project. The Chinese project title is 中航国际土耳其阿特拉斯电站项目 or 阿特拉斯燃煤电站 or 土耳其阿特拉斯超临界燃煤发电项目. 2. The face value of the buyer's credit loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that it is equivalent to 85% of the $680 million EPC contract. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

9

Number of total sources

16