BLCP Power Plant

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At time of signing on 14 August 2003, the US$1.05 billion 15.75 year BLCP Power project, sponsored 50/50 by Banpu and CLP Power, was the biggest non-recourse debt deal for a greenfield independent power plant (IPP) in Asia since 1997. It was also Thailand’s biggest project financing in three years. In December 2006, Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO)acquired CLP's share in BLCP Power Company Limited. The total generation capacity of BLCP was planned to be 1,434 MW split in two units. The plants were to be located in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong Province, 200 km South of Bangkok. All of the power generated by the plant was to be sold to the state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) through a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The PPA was awarded in December 1997 and included an average power sales tariff of Bt 1.589/kWh (then US$5.36/KWh). The coal supply agreement was signed with Australian Coal Holdings which is 100% owned by Rio Tinto. The first unit started commercial operations in December 2006 and the second one was expected to do so in February 2007. A Japanese consortium comprising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Mitsubishi Corporation was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. Total project costs on BLCP were US$1.45 billion at a debt to equity ratio of 76:24. Participants in the US$1.1 billion equivalent local denominated debt led by Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank included Siam Commercial Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Siam City Bank, Thai Military Bank and Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand. The third stage of the deal closed on 12 November 2003 with ADB providing a direct loan of US$40 million, followed by the closing on 4 February 2004 of a complementary financing scheme loan of up to US$100 million and US$70 million in PRI.