EIB supports Osterreichische Bundesforste with EUR 36.7m for wind park construction

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has recently announced that it is lending €36.7 million (US$41.5 million) to Österreichische Bundesforste AG to finance the construction of a wind farm in Styria, southern Austria. Therefore, the EIB loan will finance up to 75% of the total cost of the project, which will amount to €49 million (US$54 million).

The borrower is Windpark Pretul GmbH, a special purpose vehicle set up and fully owned by Österreichische Bundesforste AG, who manages Austria’s natural resources and owns roughly one-tenth of the country’s entire territory.

The EIB loan will fund the construction of the project consisting of 14 wind turbines with an output of 3 MW each, and a 7 kilometers line connecting them to an existing electricity substation. The wind farm will be located at the top of a mountain ridge near Pretulalpe at an altitude of about 1,600 meters above sea level.

Installation of the turbines is due to be completed in October 2016. Hand-over of the wind farm is expected to take place in February 2017, following the completion of all the commissioning tests. The total yearly production is estimated at 84 GWh.

This will be the first direct EIB loan to support electricity generation from wind in Austria. Additionally, it will help to meet the Austrian government’s target of building 2000 MW of new wind capacity between 2010 and 2020.