John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project

InPower BC General Partnership – a special purpose vehicle established by SNC-Lavalin Capital Inc. – and the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) announced financial close in relation to a 20-year project for the design, build, partial financing and rehabilitation of the John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project in Campbell River, British Columbia. The project is being procured by BC Hydro as a public-private partnership.

The existing 126-MW John Hart Generating Station on the Campbell River represents approximately 17 percent of the total generating capacity on Vancouver Island. SNC-Lavalin Inc. and its team of subcontractors will provide engineering and construction services. The maintenance of the generating station will be performed by a partnership of a SNC-Lavalin Inc. entity and an Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona S.A.I.C. y F. (IMPSA) entity, in coordination with BC Hydro staff.

BC Hydro will provide 60 percent of the approximately $700 million construction capital costs, with SNC-Lavalin Capital Inc. providing the balance through equity and debt financing, including a short-term construction loan provided by Alberta Treasury Branches and a long-term widely distributed private placement underwritten by Scotia Capital and National Bank Financial. The aggregate project value is estimated to be approximately $1 billion.

BC Hydro was represented by in-house counsel Eva Weclaw, and by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP with a team including Robert Shouldice and Christopher Eagles (corporate and commercial); Bruce Fowler (financial services), Douglas Sanders and Bill Woodhead (corporate and commercial).

SNC-Lavalin Capital Inc. and InPower BC General Partnership were represented by in-house counsel Jean Philippe Gagné, Michel Jodoin and Louis Fleurent, and by external counsel Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP with a team including Anne Stewart, Jeff Merrick, Carrie Fleming, Jennifer Chan, Nicholas Roos and Gregory Lee (infrastructure); John-Paul Bogden, Trisha Robertson, Aaron Palmer, Garth Anderson, Kelly Bourassa, Larissa Svekla, Robert Lee, Brendan Depoe (corporate and securities/financial services); and Allan Gelkopf and Zvi Halpern-Shavim (tax).

SNC-Lavalin Inc. was represented by in-house counsel Emily Schwede; IMPSA was represented by in-house counsel Florencia Troglia and Marcela Blanca Peltier.

The underwriters and construction lender were represented by McMillan LLP with a team including Catherine Doyle, Chris Bennett, Peter Willis, Michael Burns, Rob Scavone, Darcy Ammerman and Ahsan Mirza.