European Investment Bank sanctions loan for 288MW Butendiek offshore wind farm

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has sanctioned a €450m loan for the proposed 288MW Butendiek wind farm in Germany.

Estimated to require a total investment of €1.4bn, the offshore wind farm will be constructed 53km off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein in the German part of the North Sea.

EIB Germany lending operations vice-president Wilhelm Molterer noted that Butendiek was made possible due to the strong commitment shown by various groups of investors.

"The financing of renewable energy, particularly offshore wind energy projects, is and will continue to be a key part of the EIB’s work, as it is all about meeting Europe’s ambitious environmental targets," added Molterer.

In addition to EIB, the Danish government’s export credit agency Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), KfW and nine commercial banks will also extend loans for the Butendiek wind farm.

Lead manager KfW IPEX Bank will arrange loans totaling about €940m in conjunction with Bremer Landesbank and Unicredit.

The remaining funds will be provided by a group of investors comprising Industriens Pension, Marguerite, PKA, Siemens Project Ventures and WPD.

Construction of the farm is scheduled to commence by June 2014 with Siemens selected as the equipment contractor.

The company will employ 80 wind turbines at the facility, each with 3.6MW capacity and a rotor diameter of 120m.

As per the terms of the €700m contract, Siemens will provide maintenance services for a period of ten years.

The large offshore facility is expected to commence operations by mid-2015 and power 370,000 households in the region.

Project developer WPD Group, which holds 10% stake in the project, will undertake the operation of the facility when completed.