Garanti BBVA to bankroll 48-MW wind farm extension with gender loan

Turkish lender Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (IST:GARAN), better known as Garanti BBVA, has extended a loan to wind power company Polat Enerji to finance the construction of the 48-MW Soma 4 onshore wind farm in Turkey.

The USD-44-million (EUR 39.8m) loan is divided into a cash portion of USD 21.4 million, maturing in eight years, and a USD 22.6 million non-cash portion, due in 11 and a half years.

Soma 4 is an approved extension to the 240.1-MW Soma wind farm operating in Turkey’s Manisa and Balikesir provinces.

The loan to Polat Enerji is tied to the company’s gender equality efforts which Garanti BBVA will assess using its own methodology. Some of the criteria that will be evaluated are post-natal return-to-work programmes, equality in new recruitment, equal pay and anti-harassment policies, among others. The bank will use the score from the initial assessment as the baseline. Improvements noted in the follow-up assessments will result in better terms for the loan.

Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BME:BBVA) is a majority shareholder in Garanti BBVA with a 49.85% stake.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.90)

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