A financing package for the $300 million Old Harbour Bay power station project in St Catherine, Jamaica, approved by the National Environment and Planning Agency in March, is understood to be taking shape, IJGlobal exclusively shared last month.
A syndicate of four banks is said to be participating in a financing led by local bank National Commercial Bank. The total financing package is said to be $200 million, according to sources close to the deal, including the syndicated loan and a $60 million bond financing with two known participants at this stage. Most of the significant banks in Jamaica are said to be participating.
The project involves shutting down an existing heavy fuel oil plant and construction of a new 190MW combined cycle, dual-fuel plant with liquefied natural gas as the primary source of generation.
Power China signed a memorandum of understanding to construct the dual-fuel plant with the Jamaican Public Service Company (JPS) after Spanish company Abengoa stepped away from the project. The facility will utilise General Electric equipment.
New Fortress will construct an import terminal and pipelines to transport LNG to the new plant. The updated facility plans to utilise floating barges, and to include a seven-day land-based gas storage facility in order to ensure supply is on hand in the event of natural disasters and hurricanes.
It is expected that the new plant will be able to provide power at $0.13 per kW/h.
Fortress reportedly plans to ship gas from its farm in Florida to Jamaica, and then to use Jamaica as a hub for Caribbean operations.
The financing package is expected to close in the coming months, and the plant commissioning is scheduled for July 2018.
