Ørsted has signed a EUR 175 million, 8-year loan agreement with the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) for co-financing its investment in the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.
Together with the loan agreement closed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) on 6 September, the intended long-term financing of Ørsted’s investment in the Borssele 1 & 2 project is now complete, the developer said.
The 752 MW Borssele 1 & 2 is Ørsted’s first offshore wind farm in the Netherlands and the largest operational offshore wind farm in the country.
The Dutch government awarded Ørsted with the rights to build the offshore wind farm in July 2016, when the company (then known as DONG Energy) crossed the industry’s mark of EUR 100/MWh by bidding 7.27 Eurocents per KWh.
Offshore construction started in January 2020 with the installation of the first monopile foundation and the first of the total of 94 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines was erected three months later, when the project also delivered first power to the Dutch grid.
All the foundations, cables and wind turbines on Borssele 1 & 2 were installed in nine months, with the last turbine put into place in early September 2020.
The offshore wind farm was fully commissioned in December 2020 , however, the project’s inauguration was postponed a number of times due to COVID-19 and the wind farm was inaugurated on 6 September, a year after all of its turbines were installed.
Ørsted owns a 50 per cent stake in the project after divesting the other half to Norges Bank Investment Management in May of this year.