News

Landmark project will be fully operational by 2022. Set to become one of the world’s lowest cost gas-to-power facilities, providing 4.5TWh of secure, affordable energy.

Casablanca, 18 March 2019 – Themis, an Africa-focussed power company backed by Denham Capital, today announced a new partnership with Kingline Development Nigeria Limited (Kingline) to develop a 550MW natural gas-fired power plant in Ondo State, Nigeria.

The Kingline Power Project is currently in its development stage with a target to proceed to financial close by Q2 2020, becoming fully operational in 2022. It will be located on 111 hectares of land in the Ondo State Industrial Park, adjacent to the existing Omotosho Power Plant.

At a Project cost of approximately USD600 million, the Project will be one of the lowest cost gas-to-power facilities in the international market. The Project pricing is underpinned by a signed EPC Agreement with an international contractor who has successfully delivered over 4,000MW of gas fired power plants in Africa. Accordingly, the Project has already attracted significant interest from multilateral and private institutions in arranging project debt, while the project equity requirements can be fully funded by the existing partners, with Denham Capital being the majority shareholder.

On completion, the Project is expected to provide approximately 4.5TWh of affordable energy via a highly competitive, cost-reflective tariff structure, which is expected to have a positive impact on the cost of electricity in Nigeria, delivering long-term value and affordability for energy consumers.

Tas Anvaripour, CEO of Neo Themis, commented: “Our partnership with Kingline has already presented synergies that will contribute to the successful development of the Project. Themis’ involvement in the Project has played a fundamental role in laying the foundations for what can become the lowest cost-per-MW thermal plant in Nigeria. Kingline offers compelling advantages for the Federal Government of Nigeria given its extremely competitive pricing, availability of peripheral gas and transmission infrastructure, timing to operation, and technical flexibility.”

Sean Kim, CEO of Kingline, added: “We are excited to be working with Themis, who bring critical expertise and extensive power development experience, as well as proven access to financial markets. The Project has strong technical and financial support and will deliver a power solution for Nigeria, cost-competitive within any international market.”

About Themis

Themis is an Africa-centric power generation company focused on renewable and gas-fired power projects. The team, headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco, has a proven track record in Africa and extensive execution capabilities, including a 2,000MW project pipeline. Themis landmark references are the USD350 million 80MW thermal power plant in Rwanda, which reached financial close in 2017, and the EUR195 million 44MW hydroelectric plant in Côte d’Ivoire, which reached financial close in 2018.

About Kingline Development Nigeria Limited

Kingline is a Nigeria-focussed power developer led by a management team based in Nigeria and South Korea. Kingline brings strong technical and financing expertise alongside a broad experience in engineering and contracting within the gas-to-power sector.

About Denham Capital

Denham Capital is a leading energy and resources-focused global private equity firm with more than $9.7 billion of invested and committed capital across nine fund vehicles and offices in London, Boston, Houston and Perth. The firm makes direct investments in the energy and resources sectors, including businesses involving international power, oil and gas, and mining, across the globe. Denham’s investment professionals apply deep operational and industry experience and work in partnership with management teams to achieve long-term investment objectives.