The Danish offshore energy group Ørsted has completed the project financing for the 632 MW offshore wind farm “Greater Changhua 2” off the coast of Taiwan.
A consortium of 25 international and local banks and five export credit agencies raised a total of approximately €2.68 billion.
The financing package was initiated and structured by Ørsted. It is supported by guarantees from the ECAs Export Finance Norway (Eksfin), Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (T-EXIM) and UK Export Finance (UKEF).
The offshore wind farm “Greater Changhua 2” is located 50 to 60 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County and comprises two sections: “Greater Changhua 2a” is already in operation, while “2b” is currently under construction and expected to be connected to the grid by the end of the year.
“We have received strong support from banks and ECAs. This shows the great interest in high-quality offshore projects with robust structures,” said Ørsted CFO Trond Westlie. At the same time, the company is moving ahead with the planned partial sale of shares in the project, which is expected to be completed after commissioning.
The Dutch specialist shipping company Boskalis is also involved in this major project in the Asia-Pacific region, transporting a total of 66 three-legged jacket foundations from Taichung (Taiwan) to the construction site in the Taiwan Strait for the offshore wind farm.
The operations of the semi-submersible heavy lift vessels “Black Marlin” and “Blue Marlin” were almost identical. Since the first departure in March of this year, a large proportion of the foundations have already been successfully installed.
