HSBC has arranged a green trade finance deal worth US$48mn for Lamprell, an engineering services provider, to support the UAE-based company’s fabrication work on an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The bank was the sole arranger of the facility, which includes guarantees, import loans and documentary credits.

The Seagreen wind project is located off the coast of Scotland and involves building and installing 114 wind turbine generators. As a subcontractor, Lamprell will fabricate 30 jackets and suction base foundations for the generators.

Christopher McDonald, CEO of Lamprell, says that “it is important for us to have access to this type of financing, which is not only aligned to our green agenda but is also structured efficiently”.

He adds that it is “vital” that banks and corporates work together closely to “further deepen the green finance market in the Middle East, supporting the global and regional transition to a low-carbon future”.

Daniel Howlett, HSBC’s regional head of commercial banking for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, adds: “This transaction demonstrates the commercial viability of green finance in the Middle East for issuers beyond sovereigns, financial institutions and the largest multinational corporations.”

In 2020, HSBC announced a plan to allocate US$1tn in financing and investment that supports the transition to a net zero global economy. The bank also stated its aim to be net zero in its operations and supply chain by 2030.

The transaction follows HSBC, Crédit Agricole CIB and Euler Hermes signing a loan worth US$258mn with Saudi Arabia’s ministry of finance for the procurement of buses from Germany to the Middle Eastern state.

According to HSBC, the facility marked Saudi Arabia’s first export credit agency-supported green loan because of the use of the proceeds and because its reporting features make it compliant with the Green Loan Principles, outlined by the Loan Market Association in 2018.

“The loan documentation confirms a commitment to report on positive environmental impacts of the underlying project – the buses supplied will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution as well as alleviate traffic congestion in the metropolitan Riyadh area through a shift towards public transportation,” a spokesperson for the bank told GTR.