Norway’s export credit agency (ECA) Eksfin and Danske Bank have provided a €525mn loan to Danish power giant Ørsted to develop an offshore wind farm off the UK coast.

Ørsted will use the funds to purchase two transformer platforms from Norwegian exporter Aibel, for use in the Hornsea 3 windfarm of the east coast of the UK.

Eksfin is providing both a direct loan and guarantee alongside Danske Bank, with the ECA acting as sole arranger, residual risk guarantor, and facility and ECA agent, a spokesperson for the agency says. They declined to provide the tenor of the deal, but say it follows the OECD Arrangement on export credits.

Once operational, the Hornsea 3 project will be the world’s largest single windfarm, Eksfin says, and will have 2.9 gigawatts of capacity when fully operational in 2027.

The transaction brings Eksfin’s total offshore wind financing to almost €2.5bn, the ECA says.

“Our cooperation with leading offshore wind developers is vital for the Norwegian offshore wind cluster,” says the agency’s managing director Tone Lunde. “This latest transaction strengthens the relationship between Ørsted and Norwegian exporters and helps create opportunities for future co-operation.”

Eksfin has been an active ECA in North Sea wind projects, previously guaranteeing a €500mn Citi loan to the owner of ScottishPower, and participating in large deals for the Dogger Bank C project.