In Pakistan, the Asian Development Bank and SAFCO Venture Holdings Limited signed a landmark $86.2 million financial package to finance the construction and operation of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility in Sheikhupura, Pakistan, the first private sector-led SAF initiative in Asia and the Pacific.
The financing includes $41.2 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources (OCR) and, $45 million in syndicated loans including B-loans from The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund—an emerging market infrastructure debt fund owned by PIDG and managed by NinetyOne and ILX—an Amsterdam-based emerging market asset manager focused on SDG and climate private debt strategies. The International Finance Corporation is providing a syndicated parallel loan. ADB serves as the lender of record for the B-loans and as the mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for the financing package.
The 200-kilotons per annum SAF facility in Sheikhupura will use waste-based feedstock including used cooking oil.
Shell Eastern Trading (Pte) Ltd has signed a long-term offtake agreement with SAFCO for volumes of up to 145,000 tons a year of SAF from the SAF facility in Pakistan, once the proposed plant is complete.
More on the story.
