Parkwind has announced the financial close for its first German project, 257 MW Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm, located in the Baltic Sea.
The project raised EUR570 million (USD677.9 million) of debt from a group of nine lenders: KBC Bank, Belfius Bank, Helaba, KfW IPEX-Bank, Coöperatieve Rabobank, Société Générale, ING Bank, EKF Danmarks Eksportkredit and the European Investment Bank. Jones Day and Chatham Partners were acting as sponsors’ legal advisors for Parkwind during the financing process. The lenders were advised by Loyens & Loeff and Watson Farley & Williams, and Mott MacDonald acted as lenders’ technical advisor.
Ralf Bauer, Head of Corporate Finance at Parkwind, said: “Finalizing the development of the project and reaching financial close has shown the dedication, professionalism and resilience of the whole Parkwind team and its advisors. We are proud to see this reflected in the confidence of the financial markets.”
Parkwind is launching the construction phase of 257 MW Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm with innovative installation methods. The wind project will be located in the German territorial waters of the Baltic Sea, northeast of the island of Rügen. Offshore installation works are due to begin in 2022 and the wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2023. Once opened, it will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of up to 290,000 households.
The wind farm has already selected technology providers and construction companies. Vestas will supply the 27 V174 – 9,5MW wind turbine generators, while Heerema will perform the turbine installation with the recently developed floating installation method. Bladt Industries is responsible for delivering the offshore substation. DEME Offshore will install the XXL monopiles fabricated by Steelwind, applying its state-of-the-art installation vessel Orion. In addition, the wind farm will be connected to the 50Hertz grid. JDR will be delivering the inter-array cables and Global Marine performing the installation of these cables.