US$2.6 billion offshore wind project in the UK reaches financial close

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innogy SE has announced that the Triton Knoll offshore wind project, which involves the development of an 860 MW wind farm off the coast of Lincolnshire, England, has achieved financial close. Total planned investment volume amounts to approximately GBP2 billion (US$2.59 billion).

A consortium of 15 banks are providing around GBP1.75 billion (US$2.27 billion) debt facilities. The lending group includes Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., MUFG Bank, Ltd., KfW IPEX-Bank, ING Bank N.V., Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale, Natixis, Bayerische Landesbank, National Westminster Bank Plc, Lloyds Bank plc, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, BNP Paribas, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and Banco Santander S.A., London Branch.

MUFG Bank Ltd acted as financial and Linklaters LLP as legal advisor to the project.

With the required debt financing now fully committed by the project lenders, the construction phase of the project will commence in September, starting with the onshore electrical system, which includes a 57km underground cable route, landfall site and construction of a new onshore substation at Bicker Fen, in Lincolnshire. Offshore construction is then expected to start in late 2019/early 2020 and commissioning of Triton Knoll is scheduled to begin in 2021.

In readiness for construction, all contracts with main suppliers are now being executed. The main suppliers are: MHI Vestas, 3SF (Sif Netherlands B.V. and Smulders Projects Belgium N.V), NKT and Boskalis Subsea Cables and Flexibles (previously VBMS), GeoSea, J Murphy & Sons, Siemens Transmission and Distribution, Seaway Heavy Lifting.

Triton Knoll will consist of 90 of MHI Vestas’ V164-9.5 MW turbines, currently considered to be some of the most powerful and efficient in the world. The turbine supply agreement will see MHI Vestas establish a full-scale turbine pre-assembly operation at Able UK’s Seaton Port in Teesside, where the port works alone could support over 100 mostly regional jobs and secure up to GBP16 million (US$20.7 million) new investment in the port facilities.

Once fully operational, the offshore wind farm will be capable of supplying the equivalent of more than 800,000 UK households with renewable electricity every year.

Ørsted has agreed to purchase 100% of the power produced by Triton Knoll. The 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) compliments the project's Contracts for Difference (CfD), mitigating any market price uncertainty for the first 15 years of the wind farm’s operation.