market-report

UK 'green' energy company Ecotricity announced yesterday that it's issuing ‘EcoBonds’ to fund an expansion of its renewable energy generation capacity. The mix of assets to be developed includes wind, solar and renewable gas. Ecotricity is aiming to raise a modest £10 million with the bonds.

The fixed rate EcoBonds have a 4-year term and pay 7% - or 7.5% for Ecotricity customers. The bonds are aimed at ethical investment market, including, clearly, Ecotricity customers.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sold US$232.2 million worth of Clean Energy Bonds in the Japanese retail market to support its renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Asia and the Pacific. Lead manager was HSBC.

True! See for yourself. OK, it's only $1 mil and backed by Lafarge and it's a bit publicity stunt; but it's an entertaining one.

The issuer is Novacem, a spin-out from Imperial College London that has developed a "carbon negative cement" that they claim will offer cost and performance parity with Portland cement.

(Thanks to Christoph Harwood for spotting it.)

Hard in the heels of the IFC’s US$200 million Green Bond last month, comes the AAA-rated European Investment Bank (EIB) with a third issue of its “Climate Awareness Bonds”.

Denominated in Australian dollars and South African Rand, yesterday’s issue is for the equivalent of €300 million. They will be sold largely to Japanese retail and institutional investors.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) today launched a US$200 million AAA Green Bond offering, ring-fenced to fund IFC climate change related programs.

The bond follows the footsteps of its sister institution, the World Bank. The World Bank has raised over $1 billion in Green Bonds in recet years.