Technaf Solartech deal wins FinanceAsia’s Best Achievement Awards 2018

Technaf Solartech Energy has won the Hong Kong-based business magazine FinanceAsia’s Best Achievement Awards 2018 under the Best Bangladesh Deal category.

In a recent announcement, FinanceAsia said it was giving Techanf Slartech the award for securing a $15 million term loan deal.

The local currency arrangers for the deal are Standard Chartered, One Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, and Saudi Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company.

Standard Chartered is also the foreign currency arranger for the deal while GuarantCo is the risk participator. Eversheds Sutherland and DFDL Bangladesh are the legal advisors while Advisian is the technical advisor.

“This award will inspire me much,” Techanf Solartech Managing Director Nuher Latif Khan told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

FinanceAsia is a Hong Kong-based publication covering corporate finance across the Asia Pacific region and reporting on Asia’s financial and capital markets through a daily website and monthly magazine. Founded in 1996, it also profiles the region’s savviest investors.

Technaf Solartech has built the first-ever large solar power plant in Bangladesh. The power plant in Teknaf’s Hnila has a capacity to produce 28 megawatts (MW) and will feed 20MW to the local substation during sunlight hours.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board or BPDB had previously signed a 20-year deal for 20MW of power with Technaf Solartech.

The solar plant is the first step towards the government’s target of producing 2,000MW of solar power by 2021.

Solar photovoltaic cells use panels to absorb sunlight and convert it directly into electricity.

The plant emits 20,000 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide each year than a similar sized diesel-run plant does.

“Running solar energy business is a challenging job in a country like Bangladesh where most of the people run their business in traditional ways. I thank the financial institutions that are financing the project defying the challenge,” Khan said.