Sumitomo, Parkwind and Meewind secure financing for Nobelwind offshore Wind Farm in Belgium

Infrastructure developer Sumitomo Corporation, Parkwind NV, an off-shore wind farm developer and operator, and Meewind, a Dutch investment fund, have secured €655 million funding for the Nobelwind off-shore wind farm project in Belgium and started construction on October 21, 2015.

The project is funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which provided €250 million, BNP Paribas Fortis, Rabobank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank, as well as Danish and Norwegian export credit agencies EKF and GIEK. 

Subordinated debt is provided by the shareholders and by PMF Infrastructure Fund, the infrastructure investors TINC listed on Euronext and DG Infra Yield.

The main contractor for the project is Jan de Nul, which is in charge for the supply and installation of foundations, as well as the installation of wind turbines, which will be provided by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind.

Bladt Industries will supply the Offshore High Voltage Station (OHVS), while DeepOcean will install the inter array cables to be produced by Prysmian.

After Sumitomo, Parkwind, and Meewind secured approximately €460 million in financing for construction and operating costs, the project company started construction of the wind farm aiming for completion by the end of December 2017. The project will procure 50 large 3.3 MW wind turbine generators from MHI Vestas. The project period is planned to be 20 years from the completion of construction.

Production capacity of the project will be 165 MW with electricity to be purchased by a utility in Belgium, EDF Luminus, under a long-term power purchase agreement to serve 186,000 households.