Macquarie has provided over GBP 500 million of senior secured debt to fund the acquisition of a 50 per cent share in the Walney Extension project in the UK.
The investment represents the first offshore wind farm transaction that Macquarie has completed since the acquisition of the Green Investment Group (GIG) from the UK government earlier this year.
The investment will be used to part finance 50 per cent of the acquisition and construction of the 659MW offshore wind farm, jointly owned by Ørsted (50 per cent), PKA and PFA (50 per cent).
Macquarie’s investment forms part of an approximately GBP 1.3 billion senior secured project debt issuance.
In support of the transaction, GIG carried out a green impact assessment of the project on behalf of Macquarie using the green reporting approach set out in its green investment handbook.
Located in the Irish Sea, the Walney Extension project consists of 40 MHI Vestas V164-8.0MW turbines and 47 Siemens Gamesa SWT-7.0 MW-154 turbines scheduled for commissioning in the second half of 2018.