Fort St. James Green Energy Project
Torys acted as counsel to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ as the lead lender in the project financing of a 40 MW biomass project sponsored by Fengate Capital Management Ltd. and Dalkia Canada Inc. in Fort St. James, British Columbia.
On November 14, 2013, Fort St. James Green Energy Limited Partnership announced that it closed the financing for the Fort St. James Green Energy Project, a 40 MW, state-of-the-art, biomass-fired electricity generation facility located near Fort St. James, British Columbia.
The debt financing of over $175 million was sourced from five leading project finance banks, including Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Coordinating Bank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada (Administrative Agent), Natixis and Rabobank.
On completion, the facility will be operated by Dalkia Canada Inc. (“Dalkia”) under a long-term operations and maintenance agreement. Fuel for the facility will be sourced from a combination of road side debris and local saw mill waste supported by a 20-year, bio-energy harvest licence issued by the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
The project will consume approximately 200,000 metric tonnes (dry) of biomass fuel annually to generate more than 285,000 MWh of renewable electricity, which will be sold to BC Hydro under a 30-year electricity purchase agreement.
The Fort St. James Green Energy Project was one of four wood-fired power plants approved by BC Hydro in 2011 under an initiative aimed at using timber killed as a result of mountain-pine-beetle infestation in British Columbia’s interior.
Further information can be found on Newswire Canada’s website.
Dalkia, a subsidiary of Veolia Environnement and Electricité de France (EDF), is a global leader in energy services providing innovative solutions to support the sustainable growth of cities and businesses.
Fengate Capital is an asset management firm in the alternatives sector specializing in the management of customized infrastructure and real estate investment funds for institutional clients. The firm has over US$1.5 billion in assets under management.
Torys acted as counsel with a team that included Jonathan Weisz, Alison Lacy, Megan Kinsella, Simon Williams, Daniel Doubilet and Meno Tessema (corporate/financing).
Torys also acted on the following in connection with this project:
| Jurisdiction | Fort St. James |
| Province/State | British Columbia |
| Country | Canada |
| Nature of Engagement | Project Finance |
| Client | Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and the project finance banks |
| Client Role | Lender |
| Value | $175,000,000 USD |