JBIC and a host of lenders have agreed to provide a £370mn (US$621mn) facility for the construction of a UK offshore wind power project.

State-owned bank JBIC is to fund £172.5mn of the project financing, with the remainder of the facility co-financed by Mizuho Bank, BTMU, Société Générale and Siemens.

The financing documents were signed on August 8 between the lenders and WMR JV Investco.

In April, Tokyo-based Marubeni and the UK state-owned Green Investment Bank acquired a 50% stake in the project from Danish firm Dong Energy Power, the world’s largest offshore wind power generator.

The project is designated as a joint infrastructure project between the UK and Japan, based on a memorandum of understanding JBIC signed with UKTI on April 10, 2012.

The facility will be used to build the 240MW Westermost Rough wind power project, 8km off the Yorkshire coast, which is expected to come on line in the first half of next year.