960404

Financial closing

for Saba Power

Project

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Financial closing for the 114 mw Saba Power Project took place in London on last week March 31.

The primary sponsors for the project are Cogen Technologies of Houston, USA and Saba Petroleum Company Limited of California. The debt is being provided by Export-Import Bank of United States ("Exim Bank") for an amount of $81 million under a 12 years fixed rate term. It is the first power project to reach financial closing with Exim Bank as a lender in Pakistan.

The project is located near Mandi Farouqabad on the Sheikhupura-Sargodha Road. Fuel will be supplied by Pakistan State Oil and power will be sold to Water and Power Development Authority under 30 year contracts. The turn-key construction contract has been awarded to The Babcock & Wilcox Company of the United States and most of the equipment will come primarily from the USA.

Cogen Technologies is the largest privately held power company with approximately 1,500 mw of projects in operations in the United States. All of these operating projects are based on gas, coal and oil as the fuels utilized. Cogen Technologies Group of Companies is rated investment grade (BBB) by the Standard & Poor's rating agency. Currently Cogen is involved in developing several projects in various Asian countries in addition to Pakistan.