A new €500m ($542m) green bond issued by Air Liquide will be used to finance or refinance a range of energy transition and sustainable projects relating mainly to low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture and low-carbon air gases.
The company’s first green bond was issued in 2021 to align with its ESG principles. The newest bond – which was oversubscribed by investors – was undertaken through Air Liquide’s Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme.
This will allow the company to raise the bond with a 10-year maturity at a yield of 3.466%.
“The success of this second green bond issuance illustrates the investors’ confidence in Air Liquide’s ability to implement technologies and pioneer projects that contribute to the decarbonisation of our activities as well as help our customers lower their carbon footprint,” said Jérôme Pelletan, Group Chief Financial Officer.
The issuance aligns with the company’s ADVANCE programme, which outlines four key priorities of financial performance, decarbonisation, technological innovation and engaging with stakeholders, customers and shareholders.
“The technologies Air Liquide masters notably in the fields of low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture and low-carbon air gases actively and concretely contribute to a transition to a low-carbon society.”
During an investor-relations earnings call in April, Air Liquide confirmed that the pipeline of projects in its energy transition portfolio is continuing to see ‘strong momentum’, despite a number of projects still pending FID (final investment decision) in the previous quarters.
“We continue to see high interest in low-carbon hydrogen supply in different parts of the world,” said François Jackow, revealing that the company has received several orders in the past few months relating to engineering and preparation of projects.
In February, Air Liquide signed a renewable energy deal with Sasol to decarbonise oxygen production in Secunda, South Africa, with renewable power.
Air Liquide and Sasol now have a total of 690 MW of renewable power capacity, translating to annual production in CO2 emissions of around 1.2 million tonnes.
In the US, the company recently announced it would start up two new production units which will produce biogas from manure feedstock from dairy farms.
Located in Pennsylvania and Michigan, the units are equipped with a total production capacity of 74 gigawatt hours.
