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Nordsee One offshore wind farm reaches
Financial Close
Total estimated
project cost for Nordsee One amounts to 1.2 billion Euro
332 MW offshore wind farm expected to be
operational in 2017
In-water construction planned to begin in 2016
Senvion will supply the 54 wind turbines each
with a capacity of 6.15 MW
March 19, 2015
+ + + Northland Power Inc., Toronto and RWE Innogy GmbH,
Essen, today announced that the €1.2 billion Nordsee One project has
reached financial close, with all of the equity contributed to the project
and all debt required for the project now fully committed by the project
lenders. Northland owns 85% of the 332MW offshore wind farm to be located
40 kilometers off the coast of Germany, and RWE retains the remaining 15%
interest.
Approximately 70% of the project’s required
costs will be provided from an €840 million non-recourse secured
construction and term loan and related loan facilities from ten
international commercial lenders. Reflecting the strength of Nordsee One,
the financing was oversubscribed. The lending group includes ABN AMRO,
Bank of Montreal, Commerzbank, Export Development Canada, Helaba, KfW
IPEX, National Bank of Canada, Natixis, Rabobank and The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
“We are very pleased
to announce this important milestone,” noted John Brace, CEO of Northland.
“The financing for Nordsee One was completed quickly for a project of this
size, thanks to the skill and diligence of the project’s financiers and
advisors, and the overall quality of the project. Today’s announcement
underscores Northland’s ability to deliver sustained growth and strong
results, and our commitment to becoming a leader in the rapidly growing
offshore wind industry.”
Nordsee One is
entitled to a feed-in tariff subsidy under the German Renewable Energy
Act. A substantial portion of the project returns are earned during the
feed-in-tariff period, while the remainder of the planned returns are
expected from the robust and mature German wholesale electricity market.
Senvion SE, a German
based company and one of the largest turbine suppliers to the offshore
wind industry, will supply, install, and maintain the 54 wind turbine
generators for the project, each with a 6.15 MW capacity. The balance of
plant will be engineered and constructed by four experienced offshore wind
contractors.
“Today we have good news for Germanys offshore
plans and for the energy transition in general,” said Hans Bünting, CEO of
RWE Innogy. “By signing the contract today, we have created the financial
foundation for realising the Nordsee One wind farm jointly with Northland
Power. This is consistent with our strategy of developing partnerships to
spread the high costs of realising large offshore projects across several
shoulders. This facilitates the best possible utilisation of both
partners’ expertise and experience.”
“I would like to thank
our partner RWE for their expertise, support and cooperation throughout
the final stages of development and financing,” added Sean Durfy,
President and Chief Development Officer of Northland. “I would also like
to acknowledge the efforts of the team, who demonstrated their proficiency
in development and project finance by completing this process in only six
months. The integration of the Northland, RWE and Nordsee One teams was
seamless, and we will continue to work closely together throughout
construction, which will be executed by a team of highly experienced
offshore wind professionals.”
The project is
located 40 kilometers north of Juist Island in German territorial waters
with shallow water and high wind speeds – ideal conditions for an offshore
wind farm. Once operational, Nordsee One is expected to generate over
1,200 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to meet the needs of
approximately 400,000 German households. Offshore wind development is a
key feature of Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ program, the official policy
supporting renewable power generation with a stated goal for offshore wind
capacity of 6.5 GW of installed capacity by 2020 and 15 GW by 2030.
“This important
milestone is the achievement of a long development process and allows the
construction work to start. It is the result of the work of a dedicated
project team which we are very proud to lead and it represents a
cornerstone of Germany’s energy transition process. We as Nordsee One are
proud to contribute to this challenging endeavour,” said Pierre Lestienne
and Tim Kittelhake, the joint managing directors of the project.
Northland and RWE also
jointly own two early-stage development projects, Nordsee Two and Nordsee
Three, each with the same ownership levels as Nordsee One (85% and 15%
respectively). These projects, totaling approximately 670 MW, are
anticipated to be developed over the next decade as offshore wind tariffs
are extended and the grid infrastructure is made available. More about
Nordsee One: www.northlandpower.ca
Source: RWE Innogy
GmbH - www.rwe.com
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