Bank of the Year – Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered has enjoyed a demanding year this year, with participation and involvement in many PF loans. Its presence in the region, from India, South-East Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Australasia is palpable.
The bank acted not only as a mandate lead arranger and lender, but was an adviser to a number of these transactions. The bank, which has a longstanding and established presence in Asia, was visible in a number of the transactions that have been selected for the PFI Awards. One of them is the US$4.26bn Central-West Orana transmission network, possibly the biggest transaction in the region this year, and there is also the US$3.1bn Fengmiao offshore wind project and the US$2.9bn AirTrunk Singapore 10 data centre project.
But it does not stop there. The bank was present in this year’s other big Taiwanese offshore wind deal – Changhua 2 of Orsted, as well as in the Saguling floating solar project in Indonesia and the Opus solar project of Vena in the Philippines which had a rare club of international banks as lenders. The bank was involved in a few data centre projects such as the Princeton Digital group in Malaysia, Edgeconnex and Graha Teknologi Nusantara in Indonesia, and the TDIC/GIP DC in Thailand.
StanChart, which has a big presence in India, has completed a long list of financings that include wind and solar projects as well as a smart meter project of CDPQ and CLP. It provided a Rs6.2bn financing for Apraava Energy for its Karera power transmission project including a pooling substation in Madhya Pradesh.
The bank has led financings for at least four renewable energy projects in India during the year for Bluepine Energy which is wholly owned by Actis Energy 5. One is a Rs24.16bn (US$284m) PF green loan for a 150MW firm and dispatchable renewable energy wind power project being implemented by Bluepine subsidiary Solarcraft Power India 16. Another is a US$80m loan for a Solarcraft Power India 5 which is developing a 180MW solar project in two sites in Gujarat.
It has deals waiting to close in the next year or so. These include new transmission and solar projects in India, solar projects in Malaysia and Indonesia and waste-to-energy projects in Thailand. The bank is an adviser to the Bulacan Airport project that San Miguel Corp is developing in the Philippines which may hit the market in 2026.
The bank has two PF departments covering all of Asia. Steve Mercieca is Singapore-based regional head with a 10-member team that oversees all of Asia including Australasia and Japan but not the Indian subcontinent. That region, which covers India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, is under Mumbai-based regional head Prasad Hegde who leads a team of eight.
Offshore Wind Deal of the Year – Fengmiao 1
Taiwan remains the leading hub for offshore wind development in Asia, and this year marked a major milestone with the signing of a NT$103bn (US$3.1bn) project financing for the 495MW Fengmiao 1 offshore wind farm – the first among the Round 3.1 projects selected by the Energy Administration under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs to achieve financial close.
Fengmiao 1, developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners through its fund Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V) (90%) and Mitsui OSK Lines (10%), is one of the first offshore wind farms globally – and the first in Asia – to be a true zero-subsidy project, funded on a non-recourse basis with revenues relying solely on corporate power purchase agreements.
The project secured offtake agreements with United Microelectronics Corporation, Sino-American Silicon Products, Far EasTone Telecommunications, MediaTek, Taiwan Mobile and Google.
Financing was launched to banks in August 2024, and loan signing and financial close were achieved within seven months in March 2025. The deal attracted participation from 27 international and domestic banks and was supported by four export credit agencies –Atradius (Netherlands), Credendo (Belgium), Export & Investment Fund of Denmark and UK Export Finance – as well as the Taiwan National Credit Guarantee Administration.
BNP Paribas and CTBC Bank acted as financial advisers. White & Case and Baker McKenzie Taiwan were legal counsel to the sponsors, with Accura advising on supply contracts. The ECAs and project finance banks were represented by Orrick and Lee & Li.
The lender group included eight state-owned banks: Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, Taiwan Co-operative Bank; as well as The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China; seven Taiwanese private banks: CTBC Bank, ESun Commercial Bank, EnTie Commercial Bank, KGI Bank, Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, and Taishin International Bank; and 11 international banks: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC, ING, JP Morgan, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Societe Generale and SMBC.
Solar Deal of the Year – Terra Solar Philippines
The Philippines is embracing renewable energy on an unprecedented scale, and one project stands out as a landmark transaction – not just for the country, but for the entire regional energy sector.
Terra Solar Philippines is developing a 3.5GW solar plant with 4.5GWh of battery storage, tipped to become the world’s largest integrated solar-and-battery facility upon completion. Positioned as a global benchmark for renewable infrastructure, the project firmly places the Philippines on the map for clean energy.
Initially, Terra Solar Philippines was 100% owned by SP New Energy Corp, a subsidiary of MGen Renewable Energy, part of the Meralco Group. Earlier this year, global investor Actis came in and injected US$600m to acquire a 40% stake in the company.
“This project is a critical step in meeting the country’s goal of 35% renewable energy share by 2030, and 50% by 2050,” the company said.
The project spans four municipalities in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan and is expected to supply renewable power to 2.4m households, avoiding 4.3m tonnes of carbon emissions annually. As of loan signing, more than 50% of the required land had already been acquired.
To finance the project – referred to as Project Helios – six leading domestic banks joined forces to provide a 15-year, Ps150bn (US$2.6bn) loan, structured on a 75:25 debt-to-equity ratio.
The transaction was completed in just six months, a tight timetable to meet the requirements of Meralco, the 100% offtaker. Phase 1, 70% of the output, is scheduled for completion by end-2026, with cashflow earmarked for O&M of Phase 1 and development of Phase 2 (30%), before dividends – a structure tailored to the project’s needs and is favourable to lenders.
The loan represents the largest project finance facility ever raised in the Philippines, setting a new benchmark for scale, complexity, and ambition in local infrastructure financing.
The syndicated loan was arranged with BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corporation, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Philippine National Bank and Security Bank.
BDO Capital acted as sole mandated lead arranger, while BDO Trust and Investments served as facility agent and security trustee. Picazo Buyco Tan Fider Santos & Dee was legal counsel to the borrower, and Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles advised the lenders. Technical and insurance advisers were Afry Philippines and Aon Insurance, respectively.
Digital Deal of the Year – AirTrunk SGP2
Data centres are reshaping Asia Pacific’s infrastructure landscape, driving unprecedented demand for capital and even redefining traditional project financing structures. Among the standout transactions this year is AirTrunk’s landmark financing for its latest hyperscale facility in Singapore.
In July, hyperscale data centre specialist AirTrunk, through its SPV AirTrunk Singapore Ten, secured a S$2.248bn (US$1.7bn) green loan to fund the development of AirTrunk SGP2, an 80.2MW hyperscale data centre also known as Project Bespin.
The project was awarded in 2023 under Singapore’s pilot scheme for data centre capacity following a four-year moratorium. The government has since launched a second call for proposals, this time targeting a significantly larger capacity of at least 200MW.
The financing marks a few firsts as Singapore’s largest syndicated loan for a data centre and the largest green financing in the sector within the city-state. The deal attracted strong market interest, with 19 lenders joining the syndicate, underscoring confidence in sustainable digital infrastructure.
The facility begins as a green loan during construction and features an option to transition into a sustainability-linked loan during operations. AirTrunk has pledged that all financial incentives from the loan will flow into its social impact fund, reinforcing its commitment to long-term positive impact in Singapore.
SGP2 is a pioneer in sustainability. Developed under the Singapore Carbon Market Pilot program, the project offsets carbon emissions from electricity consumption using International Carbon Credits. It is designed to achieve a GreenMark Platinum rating and boasts an industry-leading power usage effectiveness of 1.20, among the lowest for data centres in Singapore.
The financing is a three-year bullet term loan with two one-year extension options. Post-syndication, the facility achieved an oversubscription of nearly 1.9x, with a total of 26 lenders participating.
The mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners and underwriters were Credit Agricole, DBS Bank, ING, MUFG, Natixis, Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank. They were joined by Commerzbank, Mizuho, RHB, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, CIMB, E Sun Commercial Bank, Export Development Canada, Maybank, Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Great Eastern Life, Bank of Communications, BNP Paribas, National Bank of Kuwait, SMBC, Siemens Financial Services, China Everbright Bank and Shinhan Bank.
Legal advisers were Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for the borrower and Linklaters for the lenders.
Power Deal of the Year – CWO REZ
Australia's Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) transmission project reached financial close in April 2025, becoming the first REZ project in New South Wales to be delivered using a PPP-style long-term design, build, finance, operate and maintain contract.
The ACEREZ consortium – comprising Acciona, Cobra and Endeavour Energy – won the contract from the New South Wales government’s EnergyCo to design, build and finance the project, and operate and maintain it for the next 35 years.
Twenty-one lenders provided the A$7bn (US$4.33bn) loan for the transmission project. The lenders are ANZ, Bank of China, BNP Paribas, CIBC, China Construction Bank, Clean Energy Finance Corp, CIC, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, ICBC, KfW IPEX, Mizuho, Nippon Life Insurance, Norinchukin Bank, Santander, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, SMBC, SMTB, UOB and Westpac.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth was legal adviser to ACEREZ, DLA Piper advised Grupo Cobra, while Allens acted as legal adviser to the financiers.
The project is distinguished by being the first to employ a PPP-style long-term design, build finance, operate and maintain contract. It is one of the first and most noteworthy cases in Australia of PPP-style contracting that also incorporates a regulated revenue model for essential electricity network assets.
ACEREZ will oversee the development of an additional 4.5GW in transmission capacity, including 90km of 500kV lines and 150km of 330kV lines, which will play a pivotal role in unlocking the energy development potential of the Central-West Orana REZ and facilitating its delivery to other parts of the state.
The new transmission structure includes the development of two 500kV double circuits between Wollar and Merotherie, and new 330kV lines to energy hubs under development of Elong Elong, Uarbry East and Uarbry West.
Storage Deal of the Year – Supernode
In January, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners secured a A$722m (US$452m) loan financing for stages 1 and 2 of its Supernode battery energy storage system.
The transaction is the largest project financing for a stand-alone BESS on the Australian market to date. It marks a major step forward for the funding of battery storage projects in Australia’s renewables sector, with BESS set to play a critical role in the nation’s clean energy transition.
The lenders were Bank of America, CBA, Mizuho, MUFG and Deutsche Bank.
ICA Partners was financial adviser to Quinbrook while Norton Rose Fulbright and Aurecon were legal and technical advisers, respectively. Allens and RINA advised the lenders.
Supernode is one of the biggest batteries on Australia’s National Electricity Market, with its first three stages set to host up to 780MW of multi-hour storage capacity.
The big battery is situated next to the South Pine switchyard in Brendale – considered the central node for electricity transmission on the Queensland grid, through which 80% of the state’s power flows each day. Supernode is also hooked up to the grid via three dedicated connections, adjacent to the Torus dark fibre data cable and international subsea link.
This strategic location enables Supernode to play a key role in enhancing the performance of the Queensland grid, raising stability of the power system and potentially reducing the risk of blackouts for regional homes and businesses.
It could help to drive investments in renewable energy zones by providing a fix for zonal flow constraints.
Its location makes Supernode ideally positioned to store surplus solar power generated during the day, before releasing it during periods of peak usage during the evening. This greatly enhances the efficiency of the solar power facilities that can help the Sunshine state make the transition towards renewable energy.
Quinbrook has entered long-term offtake agreements with Origin Energy for the first and second stages of Supernode, representing a combined BESS nameplate capacity of 520MW/ 1.856GWh.
Battery Deal of the Year – Tagawa
Japan has introduced long-term decarbonisation power source auction in 2023 to accelerate the country’s transition towards a low-carbon energy landscape by providing long-term financial support to renewable energy projects. The Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators and the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry launched the first round of bidding in January 2024.
The first set of winners were announced in April 2024, where battery energy storage systems took a significant 1.1GW portion of the 4GW awarded for renewable energy.
Of these, I Squared Capital’s Hexa Energy Services was the biggest winner with 11 projects that have a combined capacity of 342MW spread across six regions in Japan.
Hexa has completed this year the financing of the first of its BESS projects – which is the first project financing for a battery storage project in Japan. It sets up a template for future BESS financings and there is a solid pipeline of stand-alone battery projects that are expected to tap PF financings at the back of the LTDA initiative.
Projects selected under the LTDA programme will enjoy capacity payment revenues for 20 years. They can sell to the market, thus generating additional revenues. However, projects that benefit from LTDA payments are required to refund 90% of any additional market revenues that they earn, which is a fair arrangement given the capacity payments in place.
Hexa secured a ¥27.9bn (US$180m) loan facility with tenors of 10.5 years and 21.7 years. The lenders are MUFG and Societe Generale, and legal advisers are Mori Hamada & Matsumoto for the borrower and Nishimura & Asahi for the lenders.
The BESS project, located in Tagawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, has two parts – a battery that has a 30MW/130MWh capacity which is operated by Honeycomb 8 LLC and an adjacent 2MW solar project that is operated by Honeycomb 12 LLC. Construction started in 2024 and completion is targeted for February 2026.
Wind Deal of the Year – Squadron
Squadron Energy has secured a A$1.04bn (US$665m) three-year mega-loan for the Clarke Creek wind farm in Queensland from a syndicated of 10 lenders, including ANZ, Bank of China, CBA, HSBC, ICBC, ING, Mizuho, NAB, SMBC and Westpac. The loan was split into a A$1bn term loan and A$40m revolver.
Macquarie and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer were Squadron’s advisers for the deal.
The deal arrived just after Squadron announced the official opening of the 450MW first stage of the project in October, which has seen the installation of 100 turbines.
The Clarke Creek wind farm is located 150km northwest of Rockhampton in the Central Queensland Renewable Energy Zone. Squadron is currently planning a second stage for Clarke Creek, which will see the addition of a further 704MW of capacity. This will bring its total capacity to 1.154GW to make it one of the largest wind farms in Australia. The project is expected to have a total cost of A$3.0bn.
Clarke Creek has inked a 15-year power purchase agreement with Stanwell Corp for more than 75% of the generated power.
The loan, secured by Squadron for Clarke Creek, is reportedly the largest on record for a single-asset wind financing in the Australian market. It bucks the trend on Australia’s renewables market, which is experiencing a drought in new financing for major wind projects. As of the start of December, no major wind farm in Australia had reached a final investment decision in 2025.
The wind farm has a long and contentious history, with feasibility studies for the project beginning almost a decade ago in January 2016.
Clarke Creek obtained state and federal approvals by the end of 2018, and in August 2020 its original developers – Lacour Energy and Goldwind, entered a 15-year PPA with Stanwell.
Squadron acquired the project from Lacour and Goldwind in February 2022, with construction for stage one of the project kicking off in July 2022. In October, Squadron officially opened the first stage of Clarke Creek.
