National Grid is looking to line up €500m of green finance to expand its efforts in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable management.
The firm, which provides gas to 10 million customers and electricity to 10 million customers across the UK and North America, priced its first green bond yesterday.
It marks the British utility firm’s first foray into the green bonds market since publishing its Green Financing Framework in November last year, with green financing set to become a “key strategic part” of National Grid’s financing going forward.
The firm’s gas businesses will not be eligible for green finance, it confirmed.
Instead, proceeds from the Bond will be allocated to finance or refinance green projects under six categories: renewable energy; energy efficiency; green buildings; clean transportation; pollution prevention and control; and sustainable management of living natural resources and land use.
Of the €500m issuance, National Grid indicated 74 per cent would be used for renewable energy, 13 per cent for ‘environmentally sustainable management’, 11 per cent for energy efficiency, and two per cent for clean transportation and pollution prevention.
BNP Paribas is acting as the sole green structuring advisor and joint book runner.
National Grid joins the sustainable debt market at a time of rapid growth, with green bond issuances in 2019 totalling $271bn, up from $182bn in 2018 and easily outstripping the most optimistic forecasts from the start of the year.
Source BusinessGreen