Year: 2022
Winner: Ege Haina SLB
When it was looking to refinance existing liabilities in advance of a major expansion of its
renewable energy capacity, the Dominican Republic’s largest private power supplier opted for a
sustainability-linked bond.
The company made its international sustainable bond debut in November last year, issuing
$300 million to yield 5.75%. The deal wins the Infrastructure Financing of the Year in the
Caribbean.
The company used the proceeds of its first international bond sale since 2007 to refinance its
debt in the local market and extend maturities, while also freeing up cash for new projects in
the pipeline as part of a program to add 1000MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Haina’s strategy also includes an additional 400MW from natural gas on top of that to reduce
reliance on dirtier fossil fuels.
The balance of the company’s existing capacity for 861MW is tilted towards 65% natural gas
and renewables, with the remainder coming from heavy fuel oil, diesel and coal.
As a company that has long included Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG)
motivations and objectives as part of its overall strategy, the sustainable bond market made
perfect sense, says Haina’s chief financial officer Rodrigo Varillas.
“We were already walking the walk and decided to talk the talk. We did it the other way
around,” he says.
Investor interest in the ESG component anchored demand for the notes and allowed the
company to sell the full amount, he says.
Haina followed up the international issue with its first sale of a green bond in the local market
in December, placing $60 million of a planned $100 million issue.
Varillas sees the company continuing to tap the bond or bank market as it seeks to add an
average of 100MW of capacity each year. In 2021, it added 120MW of new capacity with the
Girasol solar farm, which boosts the Dominican Republic’s solar capacity by 50%, and it will
install another 90MW of solar capacity later this year or early 2023.
As the billion-dollar program continues, additional debt will be needed. “We are always open
to issuing more debt in the market as needs arise and if the market is there,” he says
ISSUER:
Empresa Generadora de Electricidad Haina, S.A. (EGE Haina)
SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS:
Citi, J.P. Morgan, Scotiabank, Sustainalytics, Shearman & Sterling, Cliord Chance, Squire
Patton Boggs, Pellerano & Herrera
All supporting financial institutions and law firms were transmitted to LatinFinance by the
award category winners. For updates please email awards@latinfinance.com