GE facilitates €90MM project financing for phase II construction of Ukrainian wind farm

GE Capital’s Global Capital Advisory (GCA) business, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), has reached another project milestone for DTEK Renewables B.V. 200-megawatt (MW) wind farm project, Primorskaya Wind Electric Plant (Primorsk). Financial close on a €90 million (MM) project financing package was reached with a German banking consortium and two European export credit agencies for the construction of phase II of a wind farm in the southern region of Zaporizhia, Ukraine. 

A banking consortium led by Bayerische Landesbank and comprising two further German banks (KfW IPEX-Bank and ODDO BHF Aktiengesellschaft) will provide senior debt for an amount of €90MM to the project. The deal is supported by German export credit agency (ECA), Euler Hermes, which is acting on behalf and for account of the Federal Republic of Germany and will provide an export credit insurance for the senior debt alongside the Spanish ECA, CESCE, which will provide reinsurance to Euler Hermes for approximately one-third of the financing.

Guto Davies, Managing Director - Global ECA Advisory and Execution Leader, GE Capital, said: “Reaching financial close ensures the completion of the project and illustrates the confidence of European financial institutions to invest in key renewable projects in emerging markets. Primorsk highlights GE’s capability in connecting finance and technology to game-changing renewable projects in complicated markets looking for clean and sustainable energy sources for the future.”

Phase II of Primorsk is part of DTEK’s two-phase process to build a 200MW wind farm in Ukraine. Phase I*, also with a capacity of 100MW, has already started operation in the same region of Zaporizhia.  To-date, 26 wind turbines for phase I have been commissioned and are already generating electricity. Upon completion of all the works (phase I and II), output of the Primorsk will be 200MW of clean energy supplied to the country’s power grid.  In total, Primorsk will be equipped with 52 GE 3.8-130/137-110HH wind turbines, one of the most powerful GE onshore turbines and is expected to generate enough electrical energy to power the equivalent of ~350,000 homes in Ukraine.

Peter Wells, Onshore Europe/SSA Leader, GE Renewable Energy, said: “We are excited to be working with DTEK again on phase II of the wind farm project in Ukraine. By supplying some of GE’s most innovative wind turbines, the project will enable affordable, reliable and clean energy to the residents and businesses of the Zaporizhia region.”

Commercial operations of phase II are expected to complete by the end of Q3 2019. Primorsk will assist Ukraine in meeting its target of generating 11 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. It’s estimated that operation of the facility will reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 700 thousand tonnes per year.

Philipp Leckebusch, CEO of DTEK Renewables, said: “DTEK has proven once again its status as a key investor in the renewable energy sector in Ukraine. Last year, the company’s investments accounted for about a half of the total investments in the renewable energy sector. The latest loan-based financing for the construction of the Primorskaya WEP strengthens the company's role as a long-term partner for leading international financial institutions and industrial equipment supply companies. By providing financing for state-of-the-art and innovative solutions we continue to contribute to the transformation of Ukraine's energy sector and to support its energy independence.”

The insurance from the German and Spanish export credit agencies support key turbine components that will be made in Germany and Spain. The nacelle will be built at GE facility in Salzbergen, Germany, with the blades and towers manufactured in Ponferrada and Bilbao, Spain, respectively. This is the second GE deal CESCE has supported for GE Spanish manufactured equipment in recent times.