€546m funding closes for former Econcern offshore wind farm

www.environmental-finance.com
30 July

The Belwind offshore wind project has closed €546 million ($768 million) in financing, bringing it back from the brink after the original developer Econcern filed for bankruptcy. Construction of the 165MW first phase of the €613.9 million windfarm, located 47 kilometres off the Belgian coast, is set to begin on 1 September.

Financing for the Belwind project had been just days away from closing when Econcern went into receivership in May, Chris Knowles, associate director for energy and environment structured finance at the European Investment Bank (EIB), told Environmental Finance. The failure of Econcern, which owned Belwind developer Evelop, has delayed the project by three to four months, he added.

Belwind Offshore Energy was bought out for an undisclosed sum by a consortium of Dutch and Belgian investors, including supermarket chain Colruyt, PMV, Meewind and Rabo Project Equity. It will be built and operated by turbine manufacturer Van Oord Marine and Offshore Contractors. The EIB provided €300 million of the loan, the first time the organisation has assumed project finance risk for an offshore windfarm.

The loan includes a 15-year €482.5 million long-term, non-recourse facility and a €65.43 million subordinated non-recourse facility, arranged by ASN Bank, Dexia Bank Belgium, Dexia Crédit Local and Rabobank as mandated lead arrangers, with Flemish investor ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV) as mezzanine lenders. The Dutch export credit agency is providing €210 million in risk guarantees.

Electricity generated by the windfarm will be sold to Belgian utility Eleetrabel, while green certificates representing the environmental benefits of renewable energy generation will be sold to grid operator Elia, for the regulated price of €107 per MW hour for 20 years of operation. Work on a second, 330MW phase of the Belwind project is scheduled to begin after this phase is completed.