The FINANCIAL — KfW and its subsidiary KfW IPEX-Bank, which is specialised in project and export finance, are co-financing the Butendiek offshore wind farm with a total of EUR 239 million.
It is the third financing under the Offshore Wind Energy Programme, which was launched in 2011. KfW IPEX-Bank as a commercial bank is providing co-financing in a separate tranche that, like KfW, it extends under market conditions.
The Butendiek wind farm is being installed in the German part of the North Sea, some 32 km west of the island of Sylt. With a total capacity of 288 MW, the wind farm will be composed of 80 Siemens SWT 3.6-120 wind turbines.
KfW is participating under the framework of a banking consortium comprised of twelve institutes including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Danish credit insurance company Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF). In its role as mandated lead arranger, KfW IPEX-Bank is arranging the financing together with the Bremer Landesbank and Unicredit. As KfW said, the overall investment volume for the Butendiek wind farm amounts to EUR 1.4 billion. In total, the participating banks have provided EUR 937 million in debt capital. In this way, KfW is making a decisive contribution to finance this project.
Dr Ulrich Schröder, Chief Executive Officer of KfW Bankengruppe, said: "The conclusion of this financing sends a clear signal to the market: Things are looking up. Several factors were decisive for this project: The legislative initiative of the German Federal Government to regulate the liability issues provides the necessary security. It has been shown that well thought-out projects of experienced partners still can be placed on the market and can be financed by involving promotional institutes and export credit agencies. The substantial commitment of KfW also highlights that the Offshore Wind Energy Programme as a central building block of the financing scheme and KfW IPEX-Bank's competence in structuring complex project finance are key factors to the success and realisation of such ambitious projects."
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