by Karma Loveday
Green bonds issues by the finance arm of Thames Tideway Tunnel company owner Bazalgette Tunnel, have picked up top ratings under a green evaluation by ratings agency Standard & Poor's.
Bazalgette Finance has issued £175m of index-linked green bonds to fund its project to design, build, commission, and maintain the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The financing achieved a green evaluation score of E1/95 (where E1/100 was the highest score) from S&P Global Ratings.
S&P's green evaluation included the environmental benefits from adding fresh water to the Thames from wastewater treatment and well as carbon savings from meeting 40% of the project’s power demand from methane recovery.
The green benefits beyond the scope of the S&P evaluation included reduced water pollution.
Two £50m retail price index linked tranches will be placed with Aviva Life & Pensions UK to mature in 2049. The rest will be consumer price index-linked and placed with a different, as yet unnamed, investor to mature in 2052.
The bonds will be issued under Bazalgette’s £10bn multi-currency bonds programme established in May last year.
S&P's green evaluation included the environmental benefits from adding fresh water to the Thames from wastewater treatment and well as carbon savings from meeting 40% of the project’s power demand from methane recovery.
The green benefits beyond the scope of the S&P evaluation included reduced water pollution.