Reed Smith advises Alpha Bank on financing of 27-MW onshore wind project

ATHENS – Global law firm Reed Smith today announced that it has advised Alpha Bank, one of the Greek systemic banks, on an approx. €32 million non-recourse financing of a ready to build onshore wind power project developed by Anatoliko Askio –  Magoula Single Member S.A., a Greek subsidiary of Valorem.

Valorem is an international renewable energy developer and power producer active in France, French Antilles, Finland, Poland, Colombia and Greece.

The project is developed in Kozani region, and will have a total installed capacity of 27 MW, consisting of 6 (4.5 MW each) Vestas wind turbine generators. It is expected to come online by early 2024. The annual power production of the project is estimated at 71 GWh, covering the needs of approx. 18,000 households.

This is the very first renewable energy power project to be constructed by Valorem in Greece and one of the very few wind power projects to be installed at such a high altitude in the country (i.e. 1700 meters above sea level).

The team was led by Reed Smithʼs Global Corporate Group partner Dimitris Assimakis, with assistance from counsel Minas Kitsilis, senior associate George Fountas and associate Georgia Koui. French law advice was provided by partner Baptiste Gelpi, and English law advice was provided by partner Claude Brown and associate Moishe Kritzler.

Assimakis, who is based in Reed Smithʼs Athens office, commented: “We are very excited to have advised Alpha Bank in the very first wind power project developed by Valorem in Greece. It illustrates both Alpha Bankʼs continuous support in the transition of the Greek power sector and especially its strong commitment in the wind power sector, as well as Valoremʼs dynamic entry in the vibrant Greek renewable energy market.”

PPC borrowing cost cut further with new bond loan agreement

Power utility PPC has signed a new bond loan agreement for an amount of 300 million euros involving Alpha Bank as well as participation from Eurobank.

The loan amount, to be used for general business purposes, will have a three-year duration with an option for a further two-year extension.

More specifically, PPC plans to utilize the amount as working capital in the context of measures taken by the company to ensure and reinforce its cash flow in the short term.

The bond loan agreement includes a series of conditions including a clause committing PPC to a 40 percent reduction of CO2 emissions by December, 2022, compared to 2019.

According to sources, the new bond loan agreement has a lower interest than levels achieved by PPC in recent bond issues.

PPC’s most recent bond issue, last month, was offered at an interest rate down to 3.375 percent.

The success of PPC’s preceding bond issues was instrumental in the company’s negotiations with banks for a further reduction in its borrowing costs.

 

Survey Digital signs 11 EPC contracts in January for projects around Greece

Survey Digital Photovoltaics signed within January 2021 contracts for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of eleven (11) photovoltaic parks of 400kW and 500kW, in various areas throughout Greece. Specifically, they are the following projects:

  1. Mesovarda Spata – 499.5 kW
  2. Velanideza Spata – 499.5 kW
  3. Voula-Varda Spata – 499.5 kW
  4. Peristeria-Sykamino Oropos – 399.60 kW
  5. Goumia Ampelonas Larissa – 499.5 kW
  6. Evernozi Ampelonas Larissa – 499.5 kW
  7. Kasian Tyrnavos Larissa – 499.5 kW
  8. Kotroules Tyrnavos Larissa – 499.5 kW
  9. Dalouka – Nea Aghialos – Volos – 499.60 kW
  10. Souvala – Nea Aghialos – Volos – 399.60 kW
  11. Gefiraki – Nea Aghialos – Volos – 399.60 kW

The equipment that will be used for the panels is from the companies Trina, Upsolar and Znshine, while for the inverters from the companies Sungrow, Huawei and Goodwe. The projects will be financed by National Bank of Greece Leasing and Alpha Bank, and will have completed their construction by the end of April 2021.

Along with the complete package of EPC services, Survey Digital supports its customers in receiving very competitive financing packages, through Alpha Bank. For mature projects looking for a quality EPC package accompanied by a flexible funding program, Survey Digital executives are available to discuss possible collaboration. Those interested can contact the company at 210 6044212 or via email at mail@survey-digital.com.

PPC secures financial relief, cash injections worth €300m

Power utility PPC is reinforcing its financial position for protection against challenges already brought about by the coronavirus crisis and ones not yet fully apparent.

The corporation’s board has approved moves worth 300 million euros, including restructuring of high-cost loans, in an effort to boost its liquidity.

Financial tools and alternative borrowing sources have once again become available to the corporation following its return to profit territory and growth prospects.

Investors and banks are expressing renewed faith in PPC, as was made clear yesterday by three decisions taken by the utility’s board promising to inject about 300 million euros into the company.

CEO Giorgos Stassis and his board approved a JP Morgan offer worth between 200 and 250 million euros for unpaid receivables by customers in the low and mid-voltage categories. This package of unpaid receivables totals 260 million euros and concerns amounts overdue for no more than 60 days. The financial services company is offering an interest rate of 3.5 percent over a three-year period. Bonds will be issued by PPC through an SPV.

Also, the country’s four main banks, National, Alpha, Eurobank and Piraeus, have accepted a request by PPC for a delay in the payments of two 25 million-euro installments, respectively due June 30 and December 31, for a one billion-euro, five-year bond issued in 2018. The systemic banks, showing faith in PPC, agreed to receive these payments when the bond matures in 2023.

In addition, PPC has further diversified its borrowing sources. The board approved an Optima Bank proposal for a 15 million-euro debenture loan with floating six-month interest.

 

Norton Rose Fulbright advises on local RES market’s largest refinancing

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Eurobank Ergasias and Alpha Bank on the €202 million non-recourse refinancing of a renewable energy projects portfolio operated by three subsidiaries of Total Eren, in Greece, it has announced in a statement.

The portfolio consists of five wind parks and seven solar photovoltaic parks with a total installed capacity of 162.4 MW, the company statement noted. This is the largest refinancing in the Greek renewable energy market, it added.

The multi-jurisdictional Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Athens-based partner and head of the Greek energy practice, Dimitris Assimakis, with assistance from of counsel Dimitris Rampos, senior associates Minas Kitsilis and George Palogos and associates Christina Korinthios, George Asimakopoulos and Sylvia Betrosian.  The team also included lawyers from the firm’s Luxembourg, Paris and London offices, including Luxembourg-based partner Stéphane Braun and of counsel Cyril d’Herbes, Paris-based partner Anne Lapierre, of counsel Eran Chvika and London-based partner Daniel Franks.

Dimitris Assimakis commented: “We are delighted to have advised Eurobank Ergasias and Alpha Bank on the largest refinancing ever in the Greek renewable energy market. This transaction illustrates both banks’ strong commitment to the renewables sector, Total Eren’s market-leading position, along with the improving conditions of the banking sector and overall economy in Greece.”

 

ELFE judicial administration, liquidation options considered

The government is considering two insolvency procedures for debt-laden ELFE (Hellenic Fertilizers and Chemicals), one being judicial administration, the other compulsory liquidation, based on the country’s bankruptcy law.

Both options were mentioned in parliament just days ago by two leading government officials, Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis and Minister of State Alekos Flambouraris, but neither of the two offered any further details.

ELFE’s debt of 120 million euros owed to gas utility DEPA is complicating the utility’s privatization plan being pursued by the government and TAIPED, the privatization fund.

If a judicial administration procedure is to be pursued, then one of the troubled company’s creditors will need to take legal action at a Court of First Instance in Kavala, northern Greece, where the firm is headquartered, and request that the producer be placed under judicial administration. DEPA will need to come into the picture here.

If a compulsory liquidation procedure is to be chosen, then an investor that may be interested in taking over the company will need to be found. In this case, ELFE’s creditors, which besides DEPA, include banks, PPC and others, will need to agree on a debt haircut.

Meanwhile, disclosures are abounding as to how Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, a failed businessman who acquired ELFE in 2009, manipulated a variety of associated firms that emerged from 2015 – and were tolerated by the government – to run down the fertilizer and chemicals producer and render it incapable of servicing its mountain of debt.

Details of legal action taken by Alpha Bank against ELFE in 2016 for a 15.1 million-euro loan extended in 2008, with the Greek State as the guarantor, were submitted to parliament for discussion last Friday by the main opposition New Democracy party. ELFE has failed to service this loan.

 

Alpha Bank eyeing Jetoil’s Thessaloniki storage facility

Alpha Bank, which is seeking to prevent troubled Jetoil from being granted bankruptcy protection, has set its sights on the company’s substantial petroleum product storage facilities in Thessaloniki’s Kalohori region.

Just over a week ago, Mamidoil Jetoil’s 84-year-old founder and president Kyriakos Mamidakis stunned the entrepreneurial world by committing suicide. Mamidoil Jetoil had filed for bankruptcy on June 9.

Alpha Bank has expressed doubts about the sustainability of Jetoil’s restructuring plan ahead of this Wednesday’s hearing of the case at a Piraeus court.

Alpha Bank has extended loans worth 62 million euros to Jetoil, a company whose bank loans, owed to various banks, totals approximately 190 million euros.

If Alpha Bank, along with other creditors, continues to oppose Jetoil’s request for bankruptcy protection at Wednesday’s court session, then the troubled petroleum company is expected to contend that a US fund, undisclosed, is prepared to provide 120 million euros to support Jetoil’s restructuring plan.

At the hearing, Mamidoil Jetoil SA’s administration will claim that the company’s induction into a restructuring program will enable it to negotiate with creditors for loan revisions that will lead to a path of sustainability.

Jetoil’s petroleum storage facilities in Thessaloniki’s Kalohori region represent 14 percent of the country’s total fuel storage capacity. Prior to the Greek crisis, now well into its sixth year, the facility handled two million cubic meters of fuel annually. A large amount of this concerned exports to the Balkans.

Through its venture Mamidoil – Albanian SA, the company also owns storage facilities with a 12,000 cubic-meter capacity in Durres, Albania’s biggest port, an 18,000 cubic meter capacity facility in Kosovo (Standardplin Sh.p.k.),and is also active in the Serbian and Bulgarian markets.