Natixis, a French corporate and investment bank, has acted as the sole green loan coordinator for the £380 million financing for Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios S.A. of Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Ltd.
The project comprises the construction of a 50 MW floating offshore wind farm, located southeast of Aberdeen, Scotland, which will be the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world, when completed. Natixis was also one of the mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and book runners for the transaction, which was recently closed on.
Kincardine will consist of six turbines (one 2 MW and five 9.5 MW, all supplied by MHI Vestas) installed on semi-submersible floating structures – designed by Principle Power – located in water depths ranging between 60 and 80 meters.
Through the certification process conducted by Natixis, the financing of the project was awarded the “Certified Climate Bond” label by Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). Vigeo Eiris has been mandated as a verifier of the Marine Renewable Energy Criteria. These scientific criteria ensure that the certified loan is consistent with the 2°C warming limit in the Paris Agreement. Under the certification, Cobra will report regularly on the project’s adherence to KPIs defined in accordance with CBI guidelines.
“This is the first Climate Bonds certification of a floating offshore wind project, congratulations are due to both Cobra and Natixis for their innovation and leadership,” says Sean Kidney, CEO of CBI.
“It’s a global scale transaction providing a strong pointer to the enormous investment potential in the floating wind sector,” he adds.
The project is expected to be fully operational by the fourth quarter.
