The Blauwwind offshore wind farm (Borssele III & IV) reached financial close in June 2018. The 730 MW wind farm is located approximately 22 kilometers from the Dutch coast of Zeeland and is due to be operational in 2021.
MHI Vestas Offshore Wind will supply 77 V164-9.5MW wind turbines, currently the largest turbines in production. Van Oord will oversee the wind farm construction, including the foundation, cabling and turbine installation. Dutch grid operator Tennet is responsible for the grid connection and offshore substation.
The tender was won in 2016 by a consortium of Diamond Generating Europe (DGE), Eneco, Shell and Van Oord with a record low (at the time) bid of 54.5 EUR/MWh for the SDE+ strike price. Under the SDE+ regime the Dutch government guarantees a maximum top up payment of 24.5 EUR/MWh between the wholesale market price and the strike price, for a period of 15 years. The project has entered into power purchase agreements with Eneco and Shell to sell the generated electricity.
Green Giraffe was mandated as financial advisor to the project in the summer of 2016. The work started at preparation of the bid and lasted until financial close. Green Giraffe advised on the successful tender phase, contracting, raising non-recourse senior debt and managing commercial aspects of the project.
Project highlights
- Total capacity of 730 MW
- 77 MHI Vestas Offshore Wind V164-9.5MW turbines
- Total investment of EUR 1.3 bn, a record low for offshore wind of 1.8 EUR/W
- Production of around 3 TWh electricity per annum
- SDE+ strike price of 54.5 EUR/MWh for 15 years
