📋 Tender Overview
Project Number: 48790
Company Name: CONTOURGLOBAL HYDRO CASCADE CJSC
Date ESRS Disclosed: Jul 17, 2024
Country: Armenia
Region: Europe
Environmental Category: B
Status: Pending Approval
Sector: Large Hydro - Renewable Energy Generation
Industry: Infrastructure
Department: Regional Industry INF LAC & EUR
Project Description
The proposed Project is an up to US$150mn refinancing arranged by IFC for an existing portfolio asset in Armenia, Vorotan hydro cascade (Vorotan), which is owned and operated by ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade (the SPV or the Company). The SPV was established and wholly owned by ContourGlobal Limited (CG or the Sponsor), an international developer and operator of power generation projects focused on renewable energy with significant presence in emerging markets.
The Vorotan hydro cascade is among the main power generation complexes in Armenia, providing both peak and base load generation, and performing grid stabilization services. The 404.2 MW Vorotan hydro cascade is located 240 km southeast of Yerevan in Armenia’s southern Syunik Province. The cascade extends 178 km along the Vorotan River and its tributaries and consists of three hydropower plants (HPPs) and four reservoirs and daily regulation pond:
76MW Spandaryan HPP, Spandaryan Reservoir and Dam (Embankment type, Mixed Rockfill & Earthfill, 83m dam height), plus Angeghakot Reservoir, commissioned in 1989;
171MW Shamb HPP, Tolors Reservoir and Dam (Embankment type, Sandy gravel Soil, 69m dam height), commissioned in 1978; and
157.2MW Tatev HPP, Shamb Reservoir and Dam (Embankment type, Sandy gravel, 41m dam height), plus Tatev Daily Regulation Pond, commissioned in 1970.
CG acquired these assets from the Government of Armenia ( GoA ) in July 2015.
There are a number of towns and villages spread along the length and breadth of the cascade. The largest of these are the towns of Sisian (population approx. 13,000), which is located on the banks of the Vorotan River in the upper section of the cascade, and Goris (population approx. 23,000), which is located a few km north of the river near the base of the cascade and is where the Company has its offices. Other, smaller settlements spread across the cascade include Gorayk, Tsghuk, Sarnakunq, Angeghakot, Shaghat, Balak, Tolors, Ashotavan, Uyts, Shamb, Ltsen, Tatev and Khot. There is minimal use of the Vorotan reservoirs for social or tourism purposes such as fishing, boating or rafting. Planned releases are made from the cascade’s reservoirs for irrigation purposes. 10% of the Vorotan River’s natural flow is continually released along the river’s original course, with the rest being diverted into the power cascade. The current flow regimes have been in place for several decades and will not be altered by the proposed Project.
The new financing is aimed to re-leverage the project SPV, and through doing so free up cash flows that a) will be upstreamed to the shareholder and directed to ContourGlobal’s n
