Ratings agency Moody’s has assigned it’s highest grade (GB1) to latest green bond offering from Tennet, the Dutch state-owned electricity transmission system operator.
The bonds, called Green Medium Term Notes will be offered as part of Tennet’s Euro Medium Term Note Programme and within its existing green bond framework.
The money raised will be used by Tennet to finance or refinance offshore wind transmission projects. Currently four projects (DolWin1, DolWin2, DolWin3 and BorWin3) in Germany are included in the green project portfolio and financed through the green bonds.
The transmission works required on these wind farms are:
• DolWin1 (commissioning 2015): a 165 km HVDC (high voltage direct current) link with 800 MW capacity
• DolWin2 (commissioning 2016): a 135 km HVDC link with 916 MW capacity
• DolWin3 (commissioning 2017): a 162 km HVDC link with 900 MW capacity
• BorWin3 (commissioning 2019): a 160 km HVDC link with 900 MW capacity
Moody’s Green Bond Assessment (GBA) rates the relative effectiveness of the issuer’s approach to manage, administer, allocate assets to and report on environmental projects financed by proceeds from green bond offerings. GBAs are not credit ratings and are expressed using a five-point relative scale, ranging from GB1 (Excellent) to GB5 (Poor).
Moody’s said the green note’s GB1 grade was based on Tennet’s transparent green bonds verification framework, together with the firm’s consultation with environmental experts and use of comprehensive environmental impact assessments.
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