Nordeste Floating Power Plant

Concluded

The project comprises the construction and operation of a 190MW floating thermal power plant (diesel) in Salvador, state of Bahia. The company responsible for the project is Nordeste Generation Ltda, controlled by Keppel Fels Energy, from Singapore. In August 2002 the plant was inaugurated. The estimated total costs were US$100 million. In 2002, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (World Bank Group) has provided Keppel of Singapore a $130 million guarantee to cover its investment of over $100 million in the project. The coverage is for three years and is against the risks of transfer restriction and expropriation, including the failure by the host government to honor its payment obligation under the Host Government guarantee to the electrical power supply contract. $80 million of this exposure has been syndicated though MIGA’s Cooperative Underwriting Program. In January 2002, Nordeste Generation signed a PPA with the Brazilian Commerce Chamber for Emergency Energy (CBEE), which is a two-year take-or-pay contract for the full capacity of the plant. Nordeste Generation power plant was part of a priority program for thermal power plants (Programa Prioritario de Termeletricas), implemented by the Brazilian federal government in 2000. The program, in order to foster the construction of thermal power plants, provided a short-term take-or-pay contract and, in some cases, financing for the construction of the plants (through the Brazilian Development Bank, BNDES). Commercial operations commenced in November of 2002 and were completed in December 2004. None None