MUFG and Citigroup have acted as financial advisors on the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in the Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm, acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners.
Hornsea 1 will be the world's largest wind farm at 1,200 megawatts and will power more than 1,000,000 UK homes. The wind farm, located 120km from the cost of Yorkshire, will comprise of 174 wind turbines, and will cover an area of 407km squared once constructed. Construction works are underway and the wind farm is scheduled to be fully operational in 2020.
The multi-tranche financing of more than £3.5bn, which was signed on 18th September, is sourced from the issuance of an investment-grade rated project bond, long-term non-recourse commercial bank financing, EKF credit-supported funding and mezzanine debt.
In addition to their role as financial advisor, MUFG also acted as joint arranger, joint bookrunner, and participated in the commercial debt facilities acting as an initial commercial bank and initial OFTO lender.
Carol Gould, Head of Power and Renewables at MUFG in EMEA, said:
"I am extremely pleased that we were able to support Global Infrastructure Partners on this groundbreaking financing of the world's largest offshore wind farm. MUFG is well-known for its work in the offshore wind farm space, and this was another wonderful opportunity to demonstrate why."
MUFG is a market leader in renewables and was ranked as the number one global Lead Arranger for financing clean energy and energy-smart technologies by Bloomberg NEF in February 2018. In 2017, MUFG financed 63 clean-energy and energy-smart technology projects, totaling $4.3 billion in credits for a market share of 7.96%. These figures represent a 19 per cent year-on-year increase from 2016, when MUFG led 53 deals for total credits of $2.9 billion.