Merkur Offshore has announce that the 396MWt Merkur offshore wind development project has confirmed financial close. Merkur is a construction-ready wind farm located approximately 45km north of the islands of Borkum, Germany, in the North Sea.
GE will supply 66 Haliade 150-6MW offshore turbines, installed by DEME, and built and operated by Merkur Offshore. Project construction will start immediately and will be undertaken by GeoSea, member of the DEME Group. A total capital investment of circa € 1.6 billion was raised from equity investors and bank lenders on a non-recourse project financing basis. Close to € 500 million in equity was provided by a consortium of five sponsors comprising of Partners Group (50%), InfraRed Capital Partners (25%), DEME Concessions Wind (12.5%); GE Energy Financial Services (6.25%), and, L’Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie (ADEME), acting in the name and on behalf of the French State (6.25%). The lenders’ group comprises of KfW Mittelstandsbank as well as nine commercial lenders including: ABN Amro, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, KfW IPEX, Natixis, Rabobank, SEB, SMBC and Société Générale.
