Infinis achieves £83 million financial close for Galawhistle wind farm in Scotland

Infinis Energy has achieved financial close on a £83 million (US$130 million) project financing facility for the construction of the 66 MW Galawhistle wind farm in Scotland.

The seven year financing facility has been arranged by Santander Global Banking & Markets and Barclays Bank as joint lead arrangers to fund the construction of the plant. Infinis also confirmed that it has entered into binding agreements with the following companies:

• Vestas Wind Power Europe - providing and maintaining the turbines
• Gael Force Renewables - balance of plant work
• Npower - will buy the power under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

The CEO of Infinis, Eric Machiels, has commented:

"We are delighted to have closed the £83 million project financing facility with Santander and Barclays and we can confirm that construction is moving ahead on Galawhistle. This is a further key milestone in Infinis' growth aspirations as, together with A'Chruach (43 MW), we now have 109 MW of onshore wind assets under construction in Scotland."

Located 7 km east of Muirkirk (East Ayrshire) and 4 km west of Douglas (South Lanarkshire) in Scotland, the project will consist of 22 Vestas turbines, giving a combined capacity of 66 MW and will be accredited under the rules of the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme.

The site will produce electricity for 25 years with a P50 output of roughly 165 MWh per year. Under development since 2007, the plant is expected to commence operation in November 2016, connecting to the National Grid substation at Coalburn.

A community benefit contribution of £5,000 (US$7,850) per MW of installed capacity per year will be paid by Infinis once the site is operational, split between South Lanarkshire and East Ayrshire according to the number of turbines in each area.

As the third largest renewable energy generator in the UK, Infinis Energy generates approximately 7% of the country's renewable power. The company oversees 137 operating sites with an aggregate generating capacity of 589 MW. Infinis also has a growing onshore wind development portfolio comprising 42 MW in construction, 108 MW consented, 107 MW in planning and 170 MW in development.

Through endeavors such as the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme, the UK aims to meet its EU target of generating 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.