Power Engineering - R. W. Beck assists 'Deals of the Year' for third straight year

NEW YORK, March 5, 2004 -- Two of "Project Finance" magazine's "Deals of the Year" feature management consulting and engineering firm R. W. Beck as Independent Engineer (IE).

The winning projects are: North American Portfolio Deal of the Year to FPL Construction; and North American Refinancing Deal of the Year to Calpine's CCFC 1.

Calpine's refinancing was for seven combined-cycle generating plants in six states aggregating more than 3,600 MW, which were constructed under a construction loan revolver. The refinancing converted this to long-term debt under a transaction underwritten by Goldman, Sachs & Co. R. W. Beck provided IE services for the transaction, which totaled about $700 million.

Bill Reynolds, R. W. Beck's Project Manager for the CCFC 1 Project says, "We are pleased to have been a part of this refinancing effort, which was completed successfully -- and uneventfully -- in a difficult financial market."

The FPL financing entailed two large combustion turbine projects: a simple-cycle project in Alabama consisting of four combustion turbines totaling 628 MW; and a combined-cycle project in Pennsylvania consisting of three combustion turbines totaling 740 MW, which FPL Energy is constructing under a construction loan revolver. This financing provided FPL Energy with the flexibility necessary to balance its debt and equity in these projects. This $400 million bank financing transaction was structured by Scotia Capital and Royal Bank of Scotland.

According to Keith Platte, R. W. Beck's Project Manager, "This financing effort was the first greenfield project financing requiring large syndication to the banking community at a time when the financial market was still very soft -- a great effort by the project developer and lead banks."

R. W. Beck's reviews included the technical, environmental and economic aspects of each project. Over the years, R. W. Beck has provided IE reviews and other energy asset consulting services in support of more than $125 billion worth of projects financed by municipal or revenue bonds and Type 144A bonds, as well as non-recourse financings valued in excess of $350 billion.

"Project Finance," a trade journal for the financial community, has honored the most successful projects from around the globe for five years. This is the third year R. W. Beck has been included.

Founded more than 60 years ago, R. W. Beck is a technically based management consulting and engineering firm providing services to both public and private sectors in the areas of energy and water/waste resources.

Add RSS Feed