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WestLB Sets Minimum Standards for Coal-Plant Loans (Update1)
2010-09-15 16:31:00.500 GMT
(Adds Deibert starting in third paragraph.)
By Mathew Carr
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- WestLB AG, a Dusseldorf-based bank,
said coal-power plants seeking loans in developed nations will
need to meet minimum energy-efficiency standards.
WestLB set a minimum efficiency standard of 43 percent or
more earlier this year for new stations and a relative
improvement of at least 30 percent for existing coal-powered
generators, Foster Deibert, the bank's head of sustainability,
said in a phone interview today. The bank also requires due
diligence on carbon credit purchases and provisions for CO2
capture and storage equipment.
It is "too early to say" whether the bank has lost
business because of the requirements, Foster said. "Over time
it strengthens our position in the market as a financier of
energy projects -- it increases our credibility and integrity."
Governments from the U.K. to China are introducing new
regulations to curb the use of fossil fuels in a bid to slow
climate change. Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan
Stanley said in February 2008 they developed guidelines to help
energy projects in the U.S. assess the risk of emissions rules.
"To the best of our knowledge, there are no other
financial institutions with these policies," Foster said.
WestLB set its requirement for 43 percent efficiency
because it is close to top performance for coal plants, Foster
said. It doesn't impose the same policies in developing nations,
where it sells structured-finance products in the energy
industry, he said.
For Related News and Information:
Top Power Stories: PTOP <GO>
Emissions-trading stories: NI ENVMARKET BN <GO>
Today's top energy news: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Mike Anderson, Reed Landberg.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss on +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
