A host of joint owners have announced the successful re-financing of the 80-turbine, 288-MW Butendiek offshore wind farm. The wind farm is situated in the German North Sea, some 32 kilometers to the West of the island of Sylt.
The Butendiek offshore project comprises of 80 Siemens wind turbines, having a rated power of 3.6 MW, resulting in a total capacity of 288 MW.
Butendiek is considered one of the most attractive offshore wind projects in the German North Sea due to its favorable site conditions including wind resources, a convenient water depth of 20 m, and ideal soil conditions.
The amount of senior debt raised for the refinancing is in excess 950 million Euros and has been provided by a syndicate of domestic and international banks together with the EIB at attractive terms. Project owners include wpd, Marguerite Fund, Siemens Financial Services, Industriens Pension, Pensionskassernes Administration, and Caisse des Dépôts, ewz.
“The success of the Butendiek wind farm— the smooth course of the wind farm’s construction on the one hand as well as the very good performance on the other hand — has been the basis for the successfully implemented refinancing,” said Michael Dedieu, Chairman of the Butendiek Investment Committee and partner of Marguerite Fund. He has been with the project since the beginning and is pleased with the positive project development which makes the refinancing possible.
Helge Rau, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at wpd added: ”The package has been very attractive for the banks, so that the transaction has been significantly oversubscribed.” Total investment sum: 1.3 billion Euro.
wpd operates the 80 offshore turbine project located just off the island of Sylt and was its project manager during the development and construction phase. Offshore construction works began in March of 2014, just 11 months after that, the first turbine was put into operation.
In the summer of 2015, all participants celebrated the inauguration of the wind farm, which is now supplying renewable energy to some 370,000 households.
Filed Under: Financing, News, Offshore wind, Projects
