Citi-led consortium completes $521.5 mln loan for PV Power’s LNG power plants

A consortium led by Citi has completed a $521.5 million loan for PV Power, the power generation arm of state-owned energy giant Petrovietnam.

The 12-year loan will be used to implement the Nhon Trach 3 & 4 LNG power plant projects, the first of their kind in Vietnam, in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Other partners of the consortium include Germany’s ING, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure), and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV). Citi and ING acted as the co-arrangers of the loan.

Once operational, the two plants will add 1,624 MW to the national transmission grid, contributing to the country’s energy security.

Pham Huu Hai, head of corporate banking at Citi Vietnam cum director of the Citi-Hanoi branch, said that Citi had been involved in the project since 2020 and provided a $300-million short-term loan for PV Power.

According to PV Power’s H1/2024 audited consolidated financial statement, as of June 30, it had an undue loan worth VND3,019.26 billion ($122.3 million) with Citi Singapore and ING Singapore and a loan worth VND916.45 billion from Citi Vietnam. The two loans accounted for 37.8% of PV Power’s short-term borrowings.

Foreign short-term creditors also included Bank of China (Hong Kong), The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company, United Overseas Bank (Vietnam), and HSBC Vietnam.

Meanwhile, foreign long-term creditors included Sumitomo Mitsui Singapore and HSBC USA New York.

PV Power has been expediting construction of the two LNG-to-power plants to prepare for their “first-fire” in October and December this year.