Galloper offshore wind farm tests bank appetite for refi

Sponsors of the £1.8 billion ($2.43 billion) 336MW Galloper offshore wind farm project in the UK – RWE, Siemens, Sumitomo and Green Investment Group – are testing bank apetite to refinance the debt backing the scheme.

BNP Paribas has started to approach lenders on ideas for the refinancing. The original £1.37 billion EIB-backed loan funding the construction of the project reached financial close at the end of 2015. The scheme is backed by a 20-year renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) giving a decent term for a possible bond option. However, the ROCs carry some price risk, which bond investors tend to avoid. Conversely, commercial banks have shown significant appetite for offshore wind assets and a project loan is stil very much in the funding mix.