East Asia & the Pacific

China WindPower Group

IFC helped finance China WindPower Group, a fast-growing maker of wind turbine towers and operator of wind farms, as it develops its first wholly-owned project – the 201-megawatt Xiehe plant in China’s underdeveloped northwestern Gansu province. We extended a $45 million loan and mobilized up to $95 million from foreign commercial banks. The transaction marked China’s first wind-power deal financed entirely through international bank syndication and won the 2010 “Renewable Deal of the Year” award for Asia Pacific from Project Finance International. IFC also took a $10 million equity stake in the Group to help the company on the corporate level.

Xiehe is expected to offset more than 421,000 tons of carbon emissions annually over the next 20 years in one of the world’s biggest carbon-emitting countries – the equivalent of taking more than 85,000 cars off U.S. roads every year.

“IFC’s knowledge of international best practice and ability to offer customized financing will enable us to succeed and expand in this growing sector,” says Liu Shunxing, Chairman of China WindPower.