Moray West Offshore Wind Farm, part of the growing Ocean Winds portfolio of UK projects, has secured £2bn of non-recourse project finance and reached financial close. The project has been supported to reach this stage by its primary sponsor Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE dedicated to offshore wind, and by Ignitis Group as minority shareholder.
Moray West is the first UK offshore wind farm to rely in majority on corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) for the commercialization of its output. CPPAs were signed with long-term strategic partners, for more than 50% of the project’s output, enabling the rapid progress of the project. The vital CPPAs originated in partnership with ENGIE and represent the largest contracts of their kind implemented in the UK market to date. A Contract for Difference (CfD) was secured for a third of the installed capacity in the UK Allocation Round 4 (AR4) to commercialize the remainder of the project’s output. Moray West is the first CfD AR4 offshore project to reach financial close.
Financial Close allows the project to move to secure the remaining elements of supply chain activity in preparation for offshore installation works in later 2023. The project is set to generate full power by 2025. Moray West remains on track to deliver low-cost renewable energy, supporting the UK and Scottish renewable energy targets and providing the equivalent of 1.33 million households a year with access to long-term, low-cost, low-carbon electricity.
Country Manager for Ocean Winds in the UK, Adam Morrison said: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone following the shareholders’ early support for a bold development strategy. Reaching Financial Close demonstrates the confidence that the financial markets have in the strength of the project and its delivery partners. The project team can now focus their combined efforts and expertise to deliver the project on time. In Scotland the significant economic successes include the use of the key ports of Invergordon and Nigg, together with our long-term commitment to investing in Buckie as the operations and maintenance base.”
Chief Operating Officer for Ocean Winds, Grzegorz Gorski said: “Ocean Winds is very proud to keep on delivering on its commercial-scale projects; Moray West representing the second secured project finance in our portfolio of projects for the year 2023, after the îles d’Yeu Noirmoutier offshore wind farm in France. We now have close to 1.5 GW of offshore wind energy in construction in the world, in addition to our 1.5 GW already operating. Building on our local engagement, we are advancing rapidly globally to provide clean energy to consumers and to companies, accompanying them in their energy transition.”