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16 February 2012
Recent financings of Canadian wind projects provide a clue as to how sponsors can cope with the effects of the European sovereign and bank crisis. By Bhaswar (Joy) Chatterjee, head of project finance, North America, Deutsche Bank.
The European sovereign and bank crisis has reverberated in the world of project finance. The large-scale sales of project finance portfolios by several major European banks suggest that permanent changes are under way. These conditions require sponsors and structuring banks to become far more creative in sourcing project finance, particularly for large projects.
This is best illustrated with the experience of recent renewables deals in Canada. The Canadian renewable energy market has thus far been sustained largely with the support of European project finance banks, especially in the long tenor (15-year+) range. However, the latter half of 2011 represented a low point for European lenders and liquidity dried up in the third quarter, especially in North America, with many banks unable to fund themselves in US or Canadian dollars at reasonable rates.
For Canadian wind projects this represented a significant challenge. At least two wind projects were in the process...
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