Macquarie unit completes financing for 235 MW Swedish wind farm

Financing included striking a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Norsk Hydro, which it called the longest corporate wind energy PPA globally at 29 years in duration

* Green Investment Group (GIG), a unit of Australian investment bank Macquarie, announced on Thursday the financial close on 270 million euros ($313 million) in funding for a 235 megawatt (MW) onshore wind farm in Sweden.

* Financing included striking a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Norsk Hydro, which it called the longest corporate wind energy PPA globally at 29 years in duration.

* Construction will start “imminently” on the farm which will contain 56 Siemens Gamesa 4.2 MW turbines in Vasternorrland, central Sweden.

* Macquarie Capital (Europe) acted as financial adviser to the sponsor on the project, raising 160 million euros of senior debt from Credit Agricole CIB and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH.

* Denmark’s Export Credit Agency is providing export credit cover.

* “This project is the latest to utilise a new investment model: developing new projects by working with companies who want to buy renewable energy directly,” said Ed Northam, Head of GIG in Europe

* “This model provides the secure revenues needed to finance renewable energy assets with less and less reliance on public subsidy.” ($1 = 0.8615 euros)

Source: reuters