Shearman & Sterling advised a consortium of international and local banks as lenders to the $3 billion Facility D Independent Water and Power project in Qatar. The project involves the construction of a 2,520 MW gas-fired power plant and a 136.5 million gallons per day associated desalination plant near the Qatar Economic Zone, south of Doha. Once operational in 2018, it is expected to be one of the largest power and water facilities in the Middle East. The project reached financial close on 11th April 2016.
Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) will purchase electricity and water generated by the plant under a 25-year power and water purchase agreement, with a consortium comprising of the Qatar Electricity and Water Company, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and K1 Energy (comprising Mitsubishi Corporation and TEPCO Fuel & Power) as international developer.
The lenders are export credit agency Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and commercial banks including The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ., Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Bank, Qatar National Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank and The Norinchukin Bank. Fifty per cent of the commitments under the term loan facilities are being provided by JBIC.
The Shearman & Sterling team was led by partners John Inglis, Nick Buckworth and Sanja Udovicic (all London-Project Development & Finance), who were supported by counsels Dan Feldman (Abu Dhabi-Project Development & Finance) Paul Simpson, Gregor Page, and consultant Anna Duncan (all London-Project Development & Finance). Associates Ayako Adachi, Thomas Coles, Amit Kanda and Charlotte Hawkins (all London-Project Development & Finance), and Mark Casey and Sam Ogunlaja (both Abu Dhabi-Project Development & Finance) also worked on the transaction. Partners Patrick Clancy and James Duncan, and associates Leona McManus, Thomas Evans and Sara Couling (all London-Finance) assisted on matters relating to the hedging transactions. Partner Alexander Uff and associate Margaret Ryan (both London-International Arbitration) assisted on arbitration related matters. Partner Simon Letherman and associate Elizabeth Emerson (both London-Tax) assisted on tax related matters. Trainees Brook Geremew, Josephine Good, Claire Hunter, Michele Smith, Daniel Frost, Joe Ohlson, Jodie Reindorf, Bilyana Belcheva, Alexander Witt and Andrea Calla also provided assistance on the transaction.
