Infrastructure

Accelerating Canada’s transition to a lower carbon intensive power grid

Macquarie Capital and CGM partnered to co-develop and partially finance Cascade, a 900 MW CCGT power plant in Alberta

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Sector	Infrastructure
Sub-sector	Energy Principal
Location	Canada

Opportunity

Generating low-emissions electricity in Alberta, Canada.

Power generation in Alberta currently contributes to almost 50 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and natural gas presents a lower emissions alternative to traditional energy sources.

Macquarie’s Commodities and Global Markets group (CGM) and Macquarie Capital combined their deep expertise in Alberta’s energy markets and asset creation capabilities to finance the development of the Cascade Power project. The 900 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant is strategically situated in close proximity to significant gas production sites, the NGTL natural gas transmission system and electrical transmission lines and is expected to supply more than 8 percent of the province’s average demand. Cascade will play an important role in Alberta’s transition off coal-fired power to a lower carbon intensive power grid.

First non-recourse greenfield CCGT financing completed in Alberta

Largest and most efficient CCGT in Alberta market once operational

First gas netback commercial structure financed in Canadian PF market

Approach

A market-leading financial package.

Macquarie Capital and CGM co-developed and raised $C1.5 billion of capital to kickstart the construction of Cascade Power. The project draws on the development, commercialization, project finance and local commodity markets expertise of the two groups to deliver the 900 MW CCGT power plant. Our initial investment began in 2019 when our development partner OPTrust reached out following our successful closing of the Norte III CCGT power plant in Juarez, Mexico.

We acted as co-developer, exclusive financial advisor and debt arranger, raising $C1.5 billion of capital for Cascade Power. Construction equity was provided by a consortium comprising OPTrust, Axium Infrastructure and DIF Capital Partners while our energy principal experts worked with ten different banks to secure the non-recourse project finance debt.

Outcome

Leading Canada’s green energy transition.

Cascade will use low carbon energy to supply over 8 percent of Alberta’s average power demand, resulting in one of the largest emissions reduction opportunities in the country’s electricity sector¹ . The project is the first large-scale Independent Power Producer financing in Alberta and the largest single asset CCGT financing in Canada.

In addition to powering Alberta with 900 MW of low carbon energy, Cascade will also support the local economy with construction generating over 3 million hours of labor and approximately 600 jobs. Construction has commenced on the project and commercial operation is expected to begin in 2023.