Norton Rose Fulbright has advised The Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-EXIM), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Standard Chartered Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi on the US$1 billion project financing of a 950 MW combined cycle natural gas-fired (CCGT) power station in Kirikkale, Turkey.

ACWA Power, an independent Saudi Arabian developer of power projects will build the plant in Kirikkale together with Samsung C&T. The facility is expected to generate enough electricity to cover half the energy needs of a city the size of Ankara and to save more than 1.825 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Charles Whitney, project finance partner at global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright led the team advising on the transaction, he comments:

“This is a significant transaction on a number of different levels, particularly as the financing was put in place in the context of a challenging lending environment. It is also a credit to ACWA and the lenders for being constructive and putting together a structure that is both robust and accommodates the requirements of a liberalised power market.

“To our knowledge this is the first limited recourse, project financing of a gas fired IPP in Turkey since the introduction of the Electricity Market Law in 2001. We look forward to its continued success through construction and into operations.”

The Norton Rose Fulbright team also included project finance associates Sarah Jones, Stephen Clugston and Nazli Okusluk. Of counsel Robin Balmer advised on the Islamic documents, partner Andrew Hart assisted on IFC matters and the Riyadh office advised on Saudi legal issues.