Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has advised a large syndicate of international and Taiwanese commercial banks, life insurance companies and cover providers on the project financing of the Changfang and Xidao Taiwanese offshore wind projects being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Taiwan Life Insurance and TransGlobe Life Insurance (the Taiwanese life insurance companies).
The multi-phase Changfang and Xidao projects, located 13-15 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County, Taiwan, will have a total joint installed capacity of approximately 600MW on completion, comprising a total of 62 turbines. Commissioning for the first phase of up to 100 MW is scheduled for the end of 2021 and the second phase of up to 500MW is scheduled for the beginning of 2024. The Changfang and Xidao projects are majority owned by CIP and a minority stake is owned by the Taiwanese life insurance companies.
The transaction included advising on complex, multi-tranche, multi-currency financing arrangements, including cover provider-supported pieces, with an estimated debt of approximately US$ 3 billion (NT$90 billion). WFW also advised on the multi-contracting construction and operations strategy from a bankability perspective.
The syndicate of lenders comprised 21 international and Taiwanese commercial banks, consisting of: MUFG Bank Ltd. (also financial adviser to the project), ABN AMRO, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, CTBC Bank, Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, EnTie Commercial Bank, E-SUN Commercial Bank, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, JPMorgan, KDB, KGI Bank, KFW, Mizuho Bank, Natixis, OCBC, Santander, Société Générale, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Taipei Fubon Bank, as well as the Taiwanese life insurance companies and a member of the CIP group (each of whom provided sponsor senior debt). Financing cover was provided by seven cover providers: Atradius (Netherlands), EKF (Denmark), GIEK (Norway), KFW (Germany), K-SURE (South Korea), NEXI (Japan) and UKEF (UK).
The syndicate of lenders comprised 21 international and Taiwanese commercial banks, consisting of: MUFG Bank Ltd. (also financial adviser to the project), ABN AMRO, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, CTBC Bank, Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, EnTie Commercial Bank, E-SUN Commercial Bank, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, JPMorgan, KDB, KGI Bank, KFW, Mizuho Bank, Natixis, OCBC, Santander, Société Générale, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Taipei Fubon Bank, as well as the Taiwanese life insurance companies and a member of the CIP group (each of whom provided sponsor senior debt). Financing cover was provided by seven cover providers: Atradius (Netherlands), EKF (Denmark), GIEK (Norway), KFW (Germany), K-SURE (South Korea), NEXI (Japan) and UKEF (UK).
