Marguerite Fund successfully finances Swedish wind farm

The Marguerite Fund has raised €29.25 million (US$34.54 million) of 15-year non-recourse debt from German bank Norddeutsche Landesbank (NORD/LB) for the construction of its all-equity acquisition of the 46.8MW Grimsås onshore wind project in Sweden. It acquired the project from Element Power and Kraftö Vind on June 15, 2017.

Construction of the wind farm is under way according to plan with foundations currently being installed by civil contractor, Svevia. Thirteen 3.6MW-130m wind turbines are set to be erected by Siemens Gamesa starting in spring 2018. The project will connect to the local distribution grids of E.ON and Vattenfall.

A 12.5-year PPA for the project was signed in June. In December a 10.5-year EPA was signed with NEAS Energy. These two long-term off-take contracts provide downside protection and cash flow visibility for the project thus enabling the Marguerite Fund to raise non-recourse debt on attractive terms while retaining upside on future commodity prices.

Marguerite was advised by Watson Farley & Williams and Setterwalls on the debt raise while NORD/LB was advised by DLA Piper, Mott MacDonald, Deloitte and Marsh.