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Chadbourne Represents Office National de l’Electricité in Jorf Lasfar Power Plant Expansion

June 25, 2012

Chadbourne & Parke represented the Office National de l’Electricité (ONE), Morocco's government owned electricity company, in connection with the 700 MW expansion of Jorf Lasfar -- Abu Dhabi National Energy Co's (TAQA) coal-fired power plant in Morocco.

TAQA, a state-owned oil explorer and power supplier, today announced the completion of the $1.4bn equivalent of 16-year, multi-currency non-recourse financing for the Jorf Lasfar expansion. ONE will be the offtaker for the electricity produced by the power plant.

Lenders include BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Standard Chartered Bank and Morocco's Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), as well as Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), and Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank).

Jorf Lasfar is the largest coal-fired power complex in the MENA region and Morocco's first independent power project (IPP). The 700 MW expansion will bring Jorf Lasfar's gross capacity to 2,056 MW. This increase in Morocco's installed electricity generation capacity is a key component of the country's long term energy strategy.

Chadbourne's MENA project finance practice has a history of involvement in the power and project finance sectors in Morocco. The Jorf Lasfar power plant expansion is the most recent of a long list of Moroccan power projects on which Chadbourne has counseled ONE, including advising the government utility in respect of the development of a new 1,320 MW coal-fired generation facility at Safi, as well as on the development of a 300 MW wind project at Tarfaya.

The MENA project finance team, primarily based in our London and Dubai offices, have been involved in some of the most significant energy transactions to date. Most recently, the team was awarded the Best Project Finance Deal of the Year by Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards 2012, and Middle East Power Deal of the Year 2011 by Project Finance Magazine.

Working on the deal for Chadbourne, were London project finance partner Robin Mizrahi and associate Laure Berthelot.