Danish energy giant Ørsted has closed a TW$90bn (€2.6bn) project finance package backed by 25 banks and five export credit agencies (ECAs), supporting a 632MW offshore wind farm development in Taiwan.
The package was originated and structured by Ørsted and will provide part of the financing for the Changhua 2 wind project. The company plans to divest equity once the project is complete, part of a wider strategy to generate proceeds for longer-term activities.
The five ECAs guaranteeing the deal are Export Finance Norway (Eksfin), the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (T-Eexim), and UK Export Finance (UKEF).
UKEF has extended a €146mn buyer credit guarantee, supporting British exporters CRP Subsea, Ordtek and Cathie, as well as Denmark-headquartered Cadaler’s UK-based entity, which are each providing specialist services and critical components to the project.
“This investment will enable British innovation in renewable technology to scale up Taiwan’s clean energy transition and follows our modern industrial strategy, which provides up to £13bn of direct lending for UKEF to help businesses to export,” says Gareth Thomas, the UK’s minister for exports.
EIFO, a prolific funder of wind projects, says in a LinkedIn post it has extended a project finance guarantee worth €250mn.
Changhua 2 has a “significant Danish footprint… with Siemens Gamesa supplying the turbines, Cadeler providing the turbine installation vessel, and NCT Offshore delivering the cable installation vessel”, it says.
Ørsted declined to disclose details of the funding provided by individual banks.
“We’ve received very strong support from both international and local banks and export credit agencies for the project financing of Greater Changhua 2,” says Trond Westlie, group chief financial officer of Ørsted.
“While funding of Ørsted’s activities primarily has been undertaken at the group level, we have extensive experience in structuring financing packages on behalf of incoming partners. This transaction is another important step forward for the strategic priorities we’ve set for ourselves.”
Changhua 2 is located around 50-60km off the coast of Taiwan and is comprised of Greater Changhua 2a, which is already operational, and 2b, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.
It is part of the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms complex. In December, a group of ECAs including EIFO, UKEF and Kexim provided similar support for the 583MW Changhua 4 development.
