Ayala-led ACEN Corporation and Vietnamese venture partner BIM Group have secured $107 million in funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other lenders for the 88-megawatt (MW) Ninh Thuan wind farm in South Central Vietnam.
“This major boost on our wind farm’s financing from Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank and ACEN’s long-standing financing partner, ADB, and our other parallel lenders will help catalyze renewable energy build-up capacity by 2030,” ACEN International CEO Patrice Clausse said in a statement.
ADB arranged and syndicated the project financing as the project’s lead arranger and book runner. Other lenders who financed the project are Japan International Cooperation Agency, Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, ING Bank, and Cathay United Bank.
ADB will also grant an additional $5 million to the Ninh Thuan wind farm from the Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies-backed Climate Innovation and Development Fund, which will be used for initiatives to safeguard environmental and social risk.
“Energy demand in Vietnam has grown rapidly even during the pandemic, and it is crucial that this demand be met through clean energy that will drive sustainable economic growth,” ADB private sector operations department infrastructure finance division director for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Jackie Surtani said.
The Ninh Thuan wind farm project began its commercial operations in September 2021 and is expected to produce 339 gigawatt-hours of electricity generation every year.
ACEN looking to increase its renewable energy portfolio to 20GW by 2030. The company is looking to begin operations for around 700 MW worth of solar and wind projects this year.