MIDIS provides 140 million CPI-linked long-term infrastructure debt for Banks Renewables

Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS) has structured new long-term debt facilities for Durham-headquartered Banks Renewables, the renewable energy division of the Banks Group, delivering over £140 million (US$172 million) of infrastructure project financing debt on behalf of its investors.

The investment is part of a £210 million (US$258 million) debt package co-arranged by MIDIS and Santander and will be used to finance the construction and operation of three onshore wind farms which benefit from Contracts for Difference – two in South Lanarkshire in Scotland (Kype Muir and Middle Muir), and one near Darlington in North East England (Moor House).

The wind farms have a combined installed capacity of 151 MW, which is enough to power over 100,000 UK homes. The long-term MIDIS facilities sit next to shorter dated commercial bank facilities and together form a mix of amortising fixed-rate and CPI-linked debt. This follows MIDIS’ CPI-linked financing for Tees Renewable Energy Plant which also benefits from a UK Government-supported Contract for Difference. 

The transaction represents a further step in Banks Renewables' transition towards a company that derives a substantial part of their cashflows from the renewables sector.

Since 2012, MIDIS has invested over £1 billion in renewables transactions globally, across 17 projects, totaling approximately 2.3GW of installed capacity.

Kit Hamilton, head of the investment team at MIDIS said:

“We are pleased to have delivered these long-term debt facilities for this important project, which is yet another example of MIDIS’ ability to deliver unique funding solutions for the benefit of a number of stakeholders, including institutional investors and borrowers.”

Simon Fisher, group finance director at the Banks Group, said:

"The support we have received from MIDIS and all our financial backers is a real expression of confidence in both Banks Renewables and the wider UK onshore wind sector.

Onshore wind represents the best value renewable energy technology for UK bill payers, and it's exciting to now be accelerating the process of taking these three wind farms forward."