Consortium achieves financial close on 309-MW Rentel offshore wind project

The consortium developing the 309-MW Rentel offshore wind farm in Belgian waters has reached financial close for the EUR-1.1-billion (USD 1.23bn) project, it was unveiled on Monday.

Project company Rentel NV announced the milestone in a statement, but noted that the closing process is still subject to the formal approval of the modified Belgian REC regime by the European Commission and its qualification within the European state aid rules. The company, however, added it is confident that such clearance will be obtained soon given the close collaboration among the parties involved.

The list of Rentel shareholders includes Otary Offshore Energy, Rent-A-Port NV, PowerAtSea, DEME Group, Aspiravi NV, Elicio NV, SRIW, Socofe and Z-Kracht. The project will be financed by them and by a group of banks, including the European Investment Bank (EIB). The latter will provide a EUR-250-million tranche through the European Fund for Strategic Investments and will also fund a EUR-50-million tranche guaranteed by Belgian export credit agency Delcredere I Ducroire.

Rentel said that construction will be initiated immediately, with offshore works expected to start during the spring of 2017. The company is currently building a new operations centre in the port of Ostend. First power is seen to be generated in mid-2018, while commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2018.

As previously announced, Siemens (FRA:SIE) will supply 42 units of its D7-type offshore wind turbines for the project. The German industrial major will manufacture, deliver, install and service the machines. At the same time, ABB (VTX:ABBN) will design and install the 220-kV export cable, while STX Europe will supply the offshore substation.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.119)

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