A review of the sustainable infrastructure landscape in 2024 reveals that project finance teams continued to operate at full capacity in the past year.

In selecting the best deals for the Triple A Sustainable Infrastructure Awards 2025, The Asset board of editors noted an upsurge in renewable energy and data centre projects in the market. These included increasingly large offshore wind projects in the United States and Europe. In the Middle East, there was another exceptionally busy programme of solar, desalination and waste-to-energy deals. And across Latin America and in Africa, new metro systems are being built or expanded to cope with the fast-growing cities, while municipalities are replacing old and polluting bus fleets with electric vehicles ( EVs ).

Bank debt was plentiful throughout the year, in addition to liquidity in the institutional loan market and in the US private placement market. And over the course of the year, more banks signed agreements with alternative asset managers, taking advantage of the booming private credit market.

The Hassyan solar-powered seawater reverse osmosis desalination project in Dubai is the deal of the year in the Middle East. Hassyan was structured as an independent water project ( IWP ), backed by a 30-year water purchase agreement with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority ( DEWA ). Underpinned by this strong offtake agreement, a 32.5-year mini-perm debt was arranged by Standard Chartered and MUFG Bank.

The syndicate featured not only regular Japanese project lenders, but also prominently involved Chinese banks, some coming in in support of the main EPC ( engineering, procurement and construction ) contractor Shandong Electric Power Construction No. 3 ( SEPCO 3 ). The financing package was also notable for the presence of Saudi EXIM Bank, which provided US$75 million to enable Saudi content in international projects, thereby enhancing the development of Saudi non-oil exports and stimulating projects that align with sustainability principles.

The winning deal in South America illustrates the strong secondary market trend that was apparent in 2024, as the project featured two M&A deals during the year, in addition to a new green loan for Phase 4.

The South America deal of the year is the Oasis de Atacama solar and storage project in Chile’s northern desert, which will be one of the largest in the world. The winner in the South America category also illustrates the strong secondary market trend that was apparent in 2024, as the project featured two M&A deals during the year, in addition to a new green loan for Phase 4. In December, Spanish independent power producer ( IPP ) Grenergy Renovables announced that it was selling a 23% stake in the first three phases of the project – Quillagua 1, Quillagua 2, and Victor Jara – to ContourGlobal, a subsidiary of KKR, for US$962 million.

Soon after, Grenergy signed the debt financing for Phase 4 - Gabriela – with US$325 million provided by BNP Paribas, Natixis, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ( SMBC ), and Bank Nova Scotia. Previous loans amounting to US$643 million for Phases 1-3 had also involved BNP Paribas, Natixis, Société Générale, and SMBC, as well as Bank of China, Bank of America, and BBVA.

In addition to a strong sponsor in the form of Grenergy, lenders also looked at the battery supply agreements with Chinese supplier BYD, as well as the long-term electricity offtake contracts.  Early in 2024, Grenergy signed a US$1.4 billion strategic agreement with BYD for 2,000 MC Cube ESS modules, and the first shipment arrived in December.

In September, Grenergy acquired 1 gigawatt of solar generation ( 77 megawatts in operation and the rest under development ) from Repsol and Ibereolica, thus adding two new phases to the project, which will eventually grow to 2GW of solar power and 11GW of storage. A second battery storage supply agreement was then signed with another Chinese battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology Company ( CATL ).

The best deal for Europe is the Northern Endurance Partnership ( NEP ) carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) project, sponsored by bp, Equinor and TotalEnergies, together with the new 742MW Net Zero Teesside ( NZT ) power project sponsored by bp and Equinor. The industrial districts in northeast England, collectively known as the East Coast Cluster, account for around half of the UK industrial cluster’s carbon emissions.

Carbon emissions will be transported and stored in the Endurance saline acquifier, 145 kilometres away under the North Sea. NZT is the world's first integrated gas-fired plant with carbon capture. There was strong backing from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for what is the UK’s first CCS project, given the government’s ambitious net-zero targets. Construction work on the NZT power project and NEP are proceeding in parallel, and most banks came in on both syndicates.

Carbon emissions will be transported and stored in the Endurance saline acquifier, 145 kilometres away under the North Sea. NZT is the world's first integrated gas-fired plant with carbon capture.

The Africa deal of the year award goes to the 552km railway and deep-water port infrastructure in Guinea, West Africa. Simandou is the world's largest unexploited reserve of high-quality iron ore, and the project is the largest greenfield mining and infrastructure investment in Africa. The northern region is being developed by the Winning Consortium Simandou ( WCS ), a partnership of Winning International Group of Singapore, China Hongqiao Group, and Baowu Steel Group. The southern area is under development by SimFer, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings. The northern and southern mine operators are co-developing rail and port infrastructure together with the Republic of Guinea for the export of up to 120 million tonnes per year of iron ore mined by SimFer's and WCS's respective mining concessions. The iron ore will be shipped from the east of Guinea to the new 60mtpa ( million tonnes per annum ) Port of Morebaya facility.

WCS will construct the project’s 536km shared dual-track main line, a 16km spur connecting its mine to the mainline as well as the WCS barge port, while SimFer will construct the 70km spur line connecting its mining concession to the main rail line, and the transhipment vessel ( TSV ) port. Last year, the Pittsburgh-based Wabtec Corporation won orders for US$500 million worth of locomotives for the project.

The deal of the year for North America is the bank financing for the acquisition of a 50% non-controlling stake in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind ( CVOW ) project by Stonepeak, a New York-based infrastructure and real estate investor. The utility Dominion Energy supplies power to parts of Virgina, North Carolina and South Carolina, and its 2.6GW wind farm, 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, will be the biggest in the US upon completion in 2026. Stonepeak agreed to acquire a 50% stake in CVOW from Dominion, and came to the market for bank debt.

There is predictable base revenue via an agreement with Virginia State Corporation Commission, which made the project highly bankable and brought in a large group of lenders. Dominion will continue to control the project construction, with Siemens Gamesa supplying 176 turbines that produce 14.7MW each. Bankers also looked to a strong group of other EPC contractors, including DEME Offshore US, a Boston unit of a Belgian energy sector firm, and the South Carolina arm of Italian company Prysmian Cables and Systems.

The winner in the Central Asia category is the ACWA Power Riverside Solar project in Uzbekistan. The Uzbekistan government has implemented a series of reforms over recent years, launching a major privatization drive as part of its strategic transition towards a market economy. As part of this initiative, a public-private partnership ( PPP ) legal framework has been established to encourage private foreign investment in the power sector.

ACWA Power entered into bilateral negotiations with the Ministry of Energy for the development of photovoltaic ( PV ) and battery energy storage system ( BESS ) plants in the Taskhent region, Uzbekistan. The PV plant and BESS plant will be developed in the Yuqorichirchik and Parkent districts of the Tashkent region, respectively. These districts are located approximately 22km and 29km northeast, respectively, from the capital Tashkent city. ACWA Power entered into a binding 25-year power purchase agreement ( PPA ) for the PV plant and a 20-year PPA for the BESS plant with the state transmission company JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan ( NEGU ) and an investment agreement with the Uzbekistan government that provides for a sovereign backstop for NEGU’s payment obligations under the PPA. The project debt features a strong group of development banks.

The Uzbekistan government has established a public-private partnership ( PPP ) legal framework to encourage private foreign investment in the power sector.

In terms of sector, the rail deal of the year is Hafeet Rail. The US$$2.5 billion Omani-Emirati railway network project is the first link in a unified regional transport and logistics chain. Hafeet Rail is a joint venture between the UAE’s Etihad Rail, Oman Rail, and Mubadala Investment. The 238km railway will connect the port city of Sohar to the Abu Dhabi and UAE rail network. There is revenue risk being taken, but the railway will partly replace the already very busy truck traffic. Hafeet Rail has recently signed a long-term agreement with steel and building materials company Emsteel for the transport of limestone and red shale to the UAE. The US$1.5 billion equivalent UAE dirham/Omani rial-denominated facility featured both conventional and Islamic tranches. Hafeet Rail recently finalized the design and build contract with Larson & Toubro and Power China. China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation ( CRRC ) has signed a contract to supply freight wagons. 

The digital deal of the year is the €5.8 billion ( US$6.44 billion ) debt package for XpFibre, the largest fibre-to-the-home ( FttH ) provider in France, delivering high-speed internet to around 25% of the French territory in terms of homes passed. Its expansion plans require very large-scale funding, which was secured via a common-term secured debt platform. This platform provided maximum flexibility by including senior bank facilities, institutional term loans, and private placement notes across a range of tenors, a capex facility to support the end of the rollout, and a bridge facility to private placement.

It is the first deal in the fibre sector in France to be based on a private rating. Achieving an investment-grade rating from S&P and Morningstar DBRS was key to sourcing term bank debt and for US private placement from insurance company investors. Of the €4.3 billion term debt underwritten by the lead banks, €1 billion went to cornerstone lenders.

The data centre deal of the year is the US$7.9 billion US warehouse facility and US$1.8 billion revolving credit facility for Dallas, Texas-based CyrusOne, which owns and operates 40 data centres in North America, Europe and Asia. The company was acquired in 2022 by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners ( GIP ) ( with GIP itself since having been acquired by BlackRock ). For the huge 2024 debt raising, Morgan Stanley, TD Securities, and KKR Capital Markets served as lead arrangers for the warehouse facility, while Wells Fargo acted as the lead arranger for the revolving credit facility. GIP also worked closely with the company in connection with this transaction.

The new capital will support the company’s continued growth and efforts to serve the growing needs of hyperscale customers globally. CyrusOne recently announced plans to enter the Italian data centre market with its latest development in Milan, named MIL1. The data centre will be delivered in three phases, with the first nine megawatts operational by the third quarter of 2027. Last September, CyrusOne broke ground on its first data centre construction project in Japan, via its CyrusOne KEP joint venture with Kansai Electric Power.

The LNG deal of the year is the US$5.4 billion Woodfibre LNG project, a joint venture between Singapore-based Pacific Energy ( 70% ) and Canadian gas company Enbridge ( 30% ). The project is regulated by the Squamish Nation, as well as the British Columbia and Canadian governments. The 2.1mtpa LNG train, storage tanks, and ship loading facilites are being powered by hydro electricity, under a contract signed with BC Hydro, making it the lowest-emissions LNG project in the world. Commercial operations are expected to begin in late 2027, with most of the gas being bought by bp Gas Marketing ( BPGM ) under a long-term offtake agreement. The initial seven-year bank debt is expected to be taken out post-construction in the US 144A and private placement markets.

The water deal of the year is the US$738 million, 32.5-year loan for the Hassyan Independent Water Project in Dubai.

For the complete list of best deals – Global, by region and sector, please click here.

For more information about the awards gala scheduled for July 2 2025, please contact us at celebrate@theasset.com.