China Eximbank provides $1 billion loan for 1336 (2 x 668) MW Dinginin Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project

On October 27, 2015, GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD) — a special purpose vehicle and joint venture of AC Energy Holdings Inc. (50% ownership stake) and Therma Power Inc. (50% ownership stake) — signed an EPC contract with Shanghai Electric Power Construction Co. Ltd. for the 1336 (2 x 668) MW Dinginin Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. China Eximbank and Sinosure representatives attended the EPC contract signing ceremony. Then, on September 5, 2016, GNPD signed a $1 billion syndicated loan agreement with China Eximbank and other Chinese lenders for the first power generation unit of the 1336 (2 x 668) MW Dinginin Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. The borrower purchased a credit insurance policy from Sinosure. On December 6, 2017, GNPD signed an additional $1.7 billion (PHP 22 billion) syndicated loan agreement with a group of Filipino banks for the second power generation unit of the 1336 (2 x 668) MW Dinginin Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. The purpose of the project is to construct a 1.3GW supercritical, coal-fired power project — with two 668 MW power generation units — in the Bataang Peninsula of Philippines. The Dinginin coal-fired power project is located at the entrance of Manila Bay, in Dinginin, approximately 5km away from Mariveles city, in the Bataan Peninsula of Philippines. The project site covers approximately 60 hectares and lies adjacent to the CDB-financed 600MW Mariveles power plant. The Dinginin power plant consists of two supercritical, pulverised coal-fired units of 668MW capacity each. Each block is equipped with a flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) system to control emissions. The other components of the plant include high-pressure and low-pressure heaters, distributed control system (DCS), transformers, circuit breakers, gas insulated switchyard, dual optical ground wire power transmission cable, coal mills, coal handling system, auxiliary seawater cooling water pumps, and condensate water pumps. The project utilizes an 80,000t coal terminal, along with two 120m-diameter circular coal yards. The electricity generated by the Dinginin coal-fired power project will be evacuated to the grid through a double-circuit 500kV power transmission line. Shanghai Electric Power Construction Co. Ltd. is the general EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. However, many other contractors are involved in the project. China Electric Power Construction Company served as the construction contractor. Dongfang Boiler Company manufactured and supplied the deaerator equipment, while Alstom supplied the steam turbine generators, which were delivered at the site by Royal Cargo. Henan Electric Power Survey and Design Institute was engaged for the survey, design and engineering of the coal-fired power project. Third Aviation Institute was contracted for the design and construction of the coal unloading terminal and sea water intake system in November 2016. Arint Consulting Services was contracted for maintenance and spares services of the main plant and the balance of plant system in December 2018. Black and Veatch was contracted for technical advisory and owner’s engineer services of the coal-fired power project Miescor was contracted for the construction of the 500kV transmission line, while Xiamen ABB Company supplied the 500kV gas-insulated substation (GIS) and associated equipment. Site clearance activities commenced on or around May 2016. GNPD issued a notice to proceed (NTP) to the EPC contractor on September 6, 2016. The project had achieved a 73.49% completion rate as of May 31, 2019. The first power generation unit of the plant was connected to the grid in February 2021. It received a Certificate of Compliance (COC) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in December 2021. The second power generation unit was originally scheduled for completion and commissioning by the end of 2020. However, as of January 2023, it was still not in operation.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 迪格宁电站 or 2×668兆瓦超临界燃煤机组EPC项目 or 菲律宾迪格宁项目. 2. AidData assumes for the time being that all of the Chinese lenders that participated in the $1 billion loan were Chinese state-owned lenders. This issue merits further investigation. 3. Therma Power Inc. is a unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. 4. The lenders were advised by Hogan Lovells.

Number of official sources

13

Number of total sources

21