Norway’s export credit agency (ECA) Eksfin has guaranteed a €500mn loan from Citi to Iberdrola, the Spanish energy firm developing a wind farm off the coast of the UK.

Iberdrola will use the loan proceeds to fund the construction of the East Anglia III wind farm by its subsidiary ScottishPower. Using 95 turbines supplied by Siemens, it will ultimately have a capacity of 1,400 megawatts and power some 1.3 million homes, the company says.

The loan has an average life of nine years and comes with a two-year drawdown period, which Iberdrola says “makes it possible to extend the duration of Iberdrola’s debt at a competitive price”.

The deal also furthers Iberdrola’s aim of diversifying the company’s finance sources and adding to its liquidity position, which it says stood at €21bn in the first quarter of 2023.

The loan brings the total value of Iberdrola’s ECA-backed borrowing signed over the last two years to €2bn. In April 2022 it secured a €1bn loan from Santander backed by EKF, then Denmark’s ECA, and in November of that year closed a €500mn green loan with three lenders, guaranteed by Spanish ECA Cesce.

Law firm WFW advised Citi on the deal.

Eksfin did not immediately respond to a question on whether Norwegian exports are being used in the East Anglia III project. Iberdrola says it is active in the country’s offshore wind sector and has “strong relationships” with Norwegian partners, including the sovereign wealth fund.

Ekfsin has previously guaranteed deals for offshore win developments at nearby Dogger Bank in the North Sea.