Renewable

May 22 (Renewables Now) - The Netherlands kicked off its inaugural green bond sale, raising about EUR 5.99 billion (USD 6.68bn) to support climate-related expenditures and investments.

Offers placed for the 20-year sovereign green bond were much higher than the targeted amount, coming at EUR 21.18 billion, the Dutch State Treasury Agency (DSTA) said on Tuesday. The securities have an annual coupon of 0.50% and mature on January 15, 2040. Their issuance price was set at EUR 98.89, equal to an issuance yield of 0.557%.

Around 82.5% of the total bids came from “green real money accounts,” through which green investors accounted for 28.5% of the allocated amount, or EUR 1.71 billion. Prior to the offering, which was carried out via a Dutch Direct Auction (DDA), 32 investors were registered as green, giving them credentials for the competition and a priority over other real money investors.

The raised funds will go to support the country’s expenditures and investments set in categories under its green bond framework. Among those are renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, as well as clean transportation and climate change adaptation initiatives, DSTA said previously.

The green bond has been certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative and makes the Netherlands the first country with a triple-A credit rating to issue such securities.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.115)