Innogy to Refinance Four OWFs with Its First Green Bond

On 12 October, innogy issued its first Green Bond worth EUR 850 million and will use the proceeds to refinance four offshore wind farms in the UK and Germany and one onshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

With a 10-year maturity, the senior bond was placed via innogy Finance B.V. and guaranteed by innogy SE. Based on a coupon of 1.25% p.a. and an issue price of 98.987% the yield-to-maturity amounts to 1.36% p.a.

The company said the transaction had been met with strong interest from investors and was oversubscribed several times. Bookrunners for the issuance were ABN AMRO, Société Générale (Global Coordinators) and DZ Bank, HSBC, LBBW and MUFG.

The company said the wind farms in question are under construction or already in operation, and have an annual expected electricity production of around 3TWh in total. The wind farms will generate sufficient CO2-free electricity to supply approximately 830,000 households, innogy stated.

Innogy’s inaugural bond is part of the company’s Green Bond Framework that encompasses renewable and energy efficiency, as well as eMobility projects.

According to innogy, the ESG agency Sustainalytics confirmed that innogy is well positioned to issue Green Bonds, and that its Framework is robust and transparent. It is in alignment with the Green Bond Principles 2017 published by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).

Bernhard Günther, Chief Financial Officer of innogy SE, said: “Innogy is a sustainable company by conviction and business model. Setting up a Green Bond framework and issuing the first benchmark corporate Green Bond in Germany is a logical step to underline this position.”

Recently, innogy became the sole owner of the 860MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm, after Statkraft sold innogy its stakes as part of the company’s plan to exit offshore wind.