Offshore wind financing - a new first for ING

ING kick starts its involvement in the offshore wind sector with the successful signing of the EUR 1.047billion Project Finance Facilities for the Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH project.

The 400MW Global Tech 1 wind farm - one of the costliest ever German offshore facilities reached financial close in July. ING along with 12 other banks was Mandated Lead Arrangers that joined the 4 other Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers Dexia Crédit Local, KfW IPEX-Bank, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank and Société Générale on the deal.

“Offshore wind carries a lot more technical challenges than onshore - the risk profile is very different Weather conditions for example, will greatly influence accessibility of the wind farm both, during its construction and when it is operational. This consequently will also impact the costs involved. It's a major leap of faith for the bank and demonstrates our commitment to alternative energy sources,” says Juliette van Enckevort, Vice President ING Structured Finance Utilities-Power

This Project was selected to start ING’s involvement in the offshore wind sector so as to build team knowledge of offshore wind project financing on the back of public sector lenders (KfW and EIB) and government owned and committed shareholders in a country that has an established, stable support regime.

Global Tech I is the largest ever project-financed offshore wind farm, and in view of the distance to shore and water depth, multi contract structure and use of wind energy converters with a limited track record, one of the most challenging offshore wind projects in the world. The project financing covers both construction and operation. The renewables showcase project comprises the erection of 80 wind energy converters with a total capacity of 400 MW – enough to supply 445,000 households with green energy.

The wind farm will be built in the North Sea about 180 km northwest of Bremerhaven, Germany in water depth of 40 metres. The offshore installation process is scheduled to be completed by June 2013. In the prospering offshore wind project finance sector, the EUR 1.047billion financing is the largest ever closed transaction with the largest ever club of commercial lenders.

Dr. Thomas Meerpohl, Managing Director of the Borrower Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH, says “We are very pleased that we managed to arrange the financing for the first 400MW offshore windfarm and we would like to explicitly thank our lenders for their continued support.”