Under the transactions, the firms have transferred all contracts, permits, rights, authorisations and the power purchase agreement with BC Hydro into the special purpose vehicle for the scheme, Toba Montrose General Partnership.
Under the project funding deal, GE is helping to finance construction in return for a 49% equity stake and 60% economic holding. In addition, GE has given Plutonic a credit facility with which to uprate a transmission link.
In a statement, Plutonic said that the transaction would be the first in a series to fully fund development of the project, which is being built with two power plants – 123MW East Toba and 73MW Montrose Creek.
The East Toba/Montrose Creek scheme recently commenced construction with access works underway, and it is the first of an extensive portfolio of run-of-river schemes Plutonic hopes to develop in the province. The contractor for the engineer, procurement and construction (EPC) project, working to a fixed price, is Peter Kiewit Sons Co.
Recently, Plutonic restructured its senior management in preparation for the execution of the first development project. The firm has a portfolio of 34 projects at various stages of development to establish approximately 1.7GW of installed capacity and generate some 5500GWh per year.
