Norway’s Havfram has secured a green export credit agency (ECA) loan to fund its two wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), currently under construction at CIMC Raffles in China.
The deal with an undisclosed amount was entered into with a syndicate led by DNB Bank with SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA, Credit Agricole, Sparebanken Vest and Rabobank as mandated lead arrangers and with Export Finance Norway as ECA lender. The loan is also partly backed by insurance provided by Atradius Dutch State Business, the ECA of the Netherlands.
The Sandbrook Capital-controlled Havfram, formerly Ocean Installer, has up to four wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) lined up for construction at CIMC Raffles Shipyard and contracts in place with Ørsted to install wind turbines at Hornsea 3 project and a preferred supplier deal with RWE for turbine installation support at Nordseecluster project.
“This Facility, alongside the equity provided by our sponsors Sandbrook and PSP Investments, fully funds Havfram’s newbuilding programme with the support of leading maritime lenders and export credit agencies, said Bjørn Kristian Røed, chief of finance at Havfram, adding: “Access and cooperation between equity and debt capital providers are key to success in providing the world with renewable energy. This facility is a shining example to this collaboration, and supports our work to harvest clean energy from offshore wind.”
In April this year, CIMC Raffles confirmed and signed the second EPC construction contract for the world’s latest generation series of wind power installation vessels with Havfram. This project is the world’s latest generation ofwind turbine installation vessels, with NG20000X design provided by GustoMSC of the Netherlands, and the related foundation design jointly completed by GustoMSC and CIMC Raffles. In August this year, CIMC Raffles started the construction of the first large wind turbine installation vessel for Havfram.