Guyana to pay 8.5% interest rate, while world pays 3%

Aug 07, 2013 News

– Guyana to pay over US$4M per megawatt, as world pays under US$3M

Guyana is not only building one of the most expensive hydro electric plants in the world, per megawatt , it is also paying among the highest interest rates for the largest section of the loan it has acquired for the project.
The world average per megawatt lies at just about US$2.3M while the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant stands at some US$5M, given the price tag of US$858M.
Government has argued that one of the hydro plants that this publication drew comparisons to in Pakistan does not include a transmission line and an access road.
If one were to remove those costs from the Guyana project its per megawatt still stands at US$4.1M.
Regarding the interest rates being paid to the China Exim Bank for the US$500M loan, Amaila Falls Hydro Inc., has inked an agreement committing to repay at 8.5 per cent.
An assessment of the loans provided for hydropower plants around the world reveals that the very bank that Guyana has committed to paying 8.5 per cent, has agreed to lend Nigeria over US$3B, including money for a hydropower venture there, at a three per cent rate of return.
In 2008 also, the Chinese government, through the Exim Bank, agreed to extend a concessionary loan of US$83.1M to Gabon to fund the Grand Poubara Hydroelectric Project. That loan has a three per cent interest rate over its 20-year term, with a seven-year grace period.
Favourable terms were also granted by the China Exim Bank for another Hydro Electric Project on the Ivory Coast, in Africa, that includes a 2 per cent interest rate, and a nine-year grace period on the 20-year loan of US$280.5M
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed a loan agreement with the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka for a total loan of up to 33,265 million yen (US$340M) to be used for the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project being implemented by the Ceylon Electricity Board. That loan comes with a repayment interest rate of 0.75 per cent.
Japan has also agreed to extend a loan of US$157.3M to the Government of Nepal, for the implementation of the Tanahu Hydropower Project in 2012. The loan carries a 0.01% interest rate per annum on the amount withdrawn and will be re-paid in 30 years, after a grace period of 10 years.
Several other projects around the world vary from little or no interest repayments to around six per cent, as against the Guyana commitment of 8.5 per cent.
During the Sithe Global/Blackstone Group’s recent visit to Guyana, the executives were asked to indicate how the negotiating teams came up with the 8.5 per cent rate of return for China Exim Bank. This question was skirted.
Asked about the 19 per cent rate of return for Sithe Global, Brian Kubeck, the Company’s President, insisted that the rate of return for its equity was at the lower end of the scale given the level of risk involved with the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant.
Sean Klimzack, the Senior Managing Director of the Blackstone Group said, “the rate of return for this project is at the lower end for something that we would consider for this risk.” He said that Sithe Global would be taking on the construction risk and operating risks which are substantial in Guyana.
Klimzack did not elaborate, only to say that this was the basis on which “we are willing to do this deal and if not we are happy to go away.”

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Guyana to pay 8.5% interest rate, while world pays 3%

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