The whole machine, in eight steps
Project finance is the discipline behind power plants, toll roads, data centres, solar parks, and large real estate. The lender looks only at the project's own cash flow and the contracts around it, never the sponsor's wider wealth. This course builds that logic from the ground up.
Work through the modules in order, each one builds on the last. Use the progress bar at the top of every module to jump between them, and the contents link to return here.
Modules 1 to 3 and 7 to 8 are conceptual. Modules 4, 5 and 6 are technical and each comes with a working Excel model you can open, change, and learn from. Every figure uses the current rate environment (3M Euribor 2.18%, as of 20 May 2026).
Pick any module to begin
What project finance is
FoundationsThe founding idea: lend to the project, not the company. Recourse, the SPV and its four jobs, and why owners and lenders accept this structure. Mapped to building to sell vs building to hold and lease.
The transaction structure
ContractsOne company at the centre, a ring of contracts radiating out. The parties and what each fears, the six contracts that carry the deal, and the direct agreements that give lenders step-in rights.
Allocating risk
RiskGive each risk to whoever controls it. The full risk taxonomy by phase, the mitigation toolkit (reserves, hedging, insurance, covenants), and the dangerous orphan risk nobody is carrying.
The financial model
Technical · xlsxThe model is the argument that cash covers debt. Five stacked layers: operating cash flow, CFADS, the debt schedule, DSCR, and the cash waterfall with reserve accounts. With a working Excel model.
Structuring the debt
Technical · xlsxDebt sculpting: shape every repayment so coverage stays flat at the target and the project carries the maximum safe debt. Plus LLCR, PLCR, gearing caps, tenor, grace and covenants. With a working Excel model.
Valuation
Technical · xlsxThree lenses on one project: project IRR (the asset), equity IRR (the owner), and APV. Why a constant WACC is the wrong tool when debt amortises, and how the tax shield is valued. With a working Excel model.
PPP & emerging markets
AppliedWhen the government is your counterparty. Availability payments vs demand risk, the value-for-money test, country risk in emerging markets, and the de-risking and blended-finance tools of 2026.
Failure & restructuring
FinaleWhen the cash flow breaks. Why projects fail, the early warning signs in the model, and the restructuring playbook, standstill, reprofiling, equity cure, and the lender step-in that ties back to Module 2.
Appendix — reference toolkit
ReferenceEverything distilled for use on a live deal: the formula sheet, a bankability checklist, sourced DSCR benchmarks by deal type, and the full consolidated glossary in one place.
One idea, followed all the way through
- Lend to the project, not the company. The single idea everything else rests on.
- Wrap it in a ring of contracts that move each risk to whoever can carry it.
- Allocate the risk, mitigate the rest with reserves, hedging, insurance and covenants.
- Build the model that proves the cash covers the debt, every year, with margin.
- Sculpt the debt to the cash flow so the project carries the maximum safe amount.
- Value the result through three honest lenses: the asset, the owner, and the deal.
- Extend it to governments and emerging markets, where country risk sits on top.
- Handle the break. Spot distress early and restructure, the whole course reused under pressure.