International renewable engineering consultancy, SgurrEnergy, part of Wood Group, has completed a technical advisory workscope on wpd’s German Butendiek offshore wind farm development, to be situated in the German EEZ of the North Sea, 32km west of the island Sylt.
SgurrEnergy, supported by its strategic partner, Intertek-Metoc, was elected by technical bank, KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, and project developer, wpd, as the technical adviser for the Butendiek development. SgurrEnergy’s 21 month pre-financial close project assessed construction risk, key financial model parameters, project agreements, interface risk, technology risk and long term operational issues.
The company independently reviewed key project designs and WTG models, construction and operation contracts, environmental and permitting requirements and third party energy yields, and provided technical inputs to financial models and advice on contingency sizing.
SgurrEnergy’s technical advisory services, along with the work of other advisors, facilitated the successful conclusion of the project’s financing process, allowing it to progress into the construction phase which will begin in the first quarter of 2013. SgurrEnergy will provide technical advisory services to the lenders throughout construction.
Martin Lehnhoff, of wpd offshore solutions and Butendiek project manager, said, “In supporting our project team, SgurrEnergy and Metoc have significantly contributed to achieving bankability of the Butendiek project with their expertise and their broad experience in the offshore wind industry.”
Simon Luby, SgurrEnergy project director , said, “We are delighted that the project has reached this significant milestone. We are also pleased to be involved in the financing of such a notable offshore development and look forward to working with both wpd and the lenders in the next exciting phase as the project moves towards operation. This successful project is just one of several we have seen through to financial close and one of many that we are actively engaged in around the world.”
The $1.3b Butendiek wind farm development, which will consist of 80 wind turbines with a capacity of 288MW, is expected to be the fourth pre-construction, project-financed offshore wind farm in Germany. SgurrEnergy has acted as technical adviser on all four, including Borkum West II, Meerwind and Global Tech I.
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Press release, February 22, 2013; Image: offshore-wind