WestLB Arranges Third-Party Finance for Coal-Fired Power Plant in Lünen, Germany
WestLB has been awarded the mandate to arrange third-party finance for a coal-fired power plant in Lünen. The € 1 billion project is sponsored by Trianel Power-Projektgesellschaft Kohlekraftwerk mbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Trianel European Energy Trading GmbH, in conjunction with 28 regional and municipal utilities. The general agreement now struck will be translated into specific financing agreements by mid-year. The agreement is conditional on the sponsors obtaining all approvals and permits required for the construction and operation of the power plant.
“We are delighted to continue our successful cooperation with Trianel, a highly reputed association of municipal utilities. The award of this mandate reflects the strength of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe in North Rhine-Westphalia. By teaming up with WestLB, the group can easily shoulder financings of this magnitude and hold its own against strong competition,” said Dr. Norbert Emmerich, Vice Chairman of the WestLB Managing Board. WestLB will pass on a part of the third-party financing volume to interested savings banks.
“We are very satisfied to team up with a competent partner of WestLB’s calibre. In supporting our venture, WestLB will be able to draw on its background in project finance. WestLB and Trianel already cooperated in the past on the financing of the gas and steam turbine power plant in Hamm-Uentrop,” said Sven Becker, management spokesman of Trianel European Energy Trading GmbH, about the cooperation with WestLB. “This financing is pivotal to allowing us to push our project forward.”
The Lünen power plant will be one of the world’s most advanced hard coal-fired power plants with an efficiency rating of more than 45 per cent. The plant will comply with, or improve upon, all statutory limits and ceilings. Trianel and WestLB already cooperated on the financing of the gas and steam turbine power plant in Hamm-Uentrop.
About Trianel
Trianel is an association of municipal utilities which seek to gain independence from the major power companies. The gas and steam turbine power plant in Hamm-Uentrop and the hard coal-fired power plant in Lünen are important elements in this strategy. The 28 municipal utilities participating in the hard coal-fired power plant project want to benefit their customers by improving competition in the marketplace. Trianel envisages starting construction in mid-2008 subject to the receipt of all requisite permits and the final go-ahead from all shareholders.