UK Export Finance (UKEF) has become the latest export credit agency to support the 495-megawatt Fengmaio 1 wind farm off the coast of Taiwan, providing a credit guarantee for the project.
The wind farm, being developed by Danish company Copenhagen Investment Partners (CIP), has secured a total of NT$103bn (US$3.1bn) from a consortium of 27 Taiwanese and international banks.
The financing is backed by export credit agencies Atradius DSB, Credendo, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and UKEF, as well as Taiwan’s National Credit Guarantee Administration.
CIP declined to release the names of the 27 banks but says BNP Paribas and CTBC Bank were its financial advisors on the deal. Crédit Agricole separately says it was a mandated lead arranger, lender, hedging counterparty and modelling bank.
UKEF has provided a credit guarantee of NT$230mn (£184mn), which it says will secure £55mn in manufacturing and service contracts for British businesses.
Danish company Cadeler will supply an installation vessel, along with crew, sea-fastening services and crane operators from its team in England.
UKEF says that Fengmaio 1 will cut greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 250,000 cars off the road each year.
A UKEF spokesperson declined to disclose specific bank or banks to which it has provided its guarantee.
EIFO last month announced a €150mn commitment to the project, which it says has “significant Danish involvement”. Besides being built by CIP, the turbines are provided by Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer and installer.
“This financing agreement aligns very well with EIFO’s strategy to support effective green energy projects and strengthen Danish exports,” said Peter Boeskov, chief commercial officer of EIFO. “We are very pleased to once again contribute to financing a wind farm in Taiwan, where Danish players such as Vestas and Semco Maritime play a key role.”
Credendo declined to share its guarantee commitment. The other export credit agencies involved had not replied to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The project is expected to be completed by 2027, at which time the entirety of the energy generated will be sold to six “large and international corporates” through long-term purchase power agreements, according to CIP.
The deal itself reached financial close in mid-March. Thomas Wibe Poulsen, partner and head of Asia Pacific at CIP described it as “the culmination of years of hard work and dedication”, which will provide “much-needed clean energy to large energy users in Taiwan”.
International law firms Baker McKenzie and White & Case served as legal advisors to CIP for the financing, and Accura was the project’s legal advisor for supply contracts. Law firms Orrick and Lee & Li were legal advisors to the export credit agencies and banks.
“This project is the first multi-party corporate power purchase agreement-backed offshore wind project in Taiwan and is an important milestone for the next phase of projects in the Asia Pacific offshore wind industry,” says White & Case partner Fergus Smith, who led the firm’s deal team.
“The successful closing of Fengmiao 1 demonstrates the continuing resilience and increasing sophistication of the project financing market for Taiwan’s offshore wind projects.”
Global banks and export credit agencies have piled into offshore wind developments in Taiwan in recent years.
EIFO’s support of Fengmiao 1 follows a December announcement that it provided DKr1bn (US$144mn) to the Changhua 4 offshore wind project, alongside other export credit bodies. EIFO says it has financed over 30% of all installed offshore wind capacity outside of China, which accounts for half the global total.
