The Walney offshore wind Farm comprises 102 Siemens wind turbines with a total capacity of 367 MW (half with a 107m rotor, and the other half with a 120m rotor – the first commercial project with that enhanced version of the Siemens 3.6 MW turbine). Developed by DONG (now Ørsted), which retains a 50.1% stake, it has been operational since 2012. SSE owns 25.1% and the remaining 24.8% is owned by OPW, the borrower, a special purpose company owned by PGGM (60%) and Ampere, a renewable energy fund managed by fund manager DIF, and using commercial and financial asset manager EcoGen.
Green Giraffe advised OPW in 2011-12 on the initial debt transaction, when GBP 224 M was raised on a non-recourse basis from a group of 5 banks, including the GIB (in what was the public bank’s first offshore wind transaction). Green Giraffe was mandated again in 2016 to help refinance that debt, and that transaction closed on 15 December 2016, for an overall amount of GBP 186 M, provided by KfW-IPEX, RBS, Santander and Siemens Bank. The refinancing extended the maturity of the debt and brought down pricing in line with current market conditions.