Taiwan Cement Group plans green bond

Taiwan Cement Group is planning to issue green bonds through its subsidiary in Europe, marking the first time the group has sold such bonds to finance environmentally-friendly projects. In a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Taiwan Cement Co (TCC) said its energy storage subsidiary NHOA SA in Italy will sell convertible green bonds with a maturity of five years, aiming to raise EUR250m (US$276m).

In July 2021, through its subsidiary Taiwan Cement Europe Holdings BV, TCC acquired a 65.15 per cent stake in NHOA, which was formerly known as Engie EPS for EUR234m. According to TCC, the cement supplier will spend up to EUR250m to participate in NHOA's green bond fund raising campaign.

TCC said NHOA will use EUR50m to EUR100m to expand its energy storage business worldwide, while assigning an additional EUR150m to EUR200m to finance the electric vehicle fast charging projects of Atlante Co, a unit of NHOA, in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, as part of an effort to build the largest charging network in southern Europe.

In Taiwan, TCC is also planning to sell green bonds or so-called sustainability-linked bonds (SLB) later this year for which the principal and interest payment terms are linked to the issuer's sustainability performance targets (SPTs).