Scotland's Seagreen 1 offshore project gets Nordic backing

Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), the export credit agency of Denmark, and Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (GIEK) are participating in the project financing of the roughly 1.1-GW Seagreen 1 offshore wind park in Scottish waters alongside 12 commercial banks.

EKF said last week it is providing a guarantee of GBP 304 million (USD 385m/EUR 340.4m) to the project, while GIEK has announced NOK 1.6 billion (USD 172.2m/EUR 152.2m) of guarantee coverage. The total cost of the project is estimated at around GBP 3 billion.

Using 114 pieces of MHI Vestas’ V164-10 MW turbines, the North Sea wind farm is planned to be completed in 2022. SSE Renewables recently took the final investment decision (FID) for the scheme, in which French oil and gas giant Total SA (EPA:FP) will purchase a 51% interest. Seagreen 1 has a 15-year contract for difference (CfD) for 454 MW of the capacity.

On announcing its participation in the scheme’s financing, GIEK also said Nexans Norway has been awarded a comprehensive design, engineering, production and installation contract for the on- and offshore high-voltage transmission cables. It will use the cable-laying vessel Nexans Aurora for the job. GIEK is also guaranteeing for parts of the financing of this new vessel, which is under construction at Ulstein Verft.

“While GIEK’s ability to strengthen banking capacity can help Norwegian suppliers win bigger contracts, contributing to the green transition is a positive dimension which comes on top of that” said CEO Wenche Nistad.

EKF said last year it helped finance renewable energy projects that will avoid 75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over their lives. GIEK, meanwhile, has contributed NOK 4 billion to offshore wind financings in the last six months.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.27/EUR 1.12)
(NOK 10 = USD 1.07/EUR 0.95)

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