Orsted announced on Dec 29th that the 605MW Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm will be incorporating with new investment, for which the joint venture formed with the global institutional investor CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec) and Cathay PE of Taiwan will obtain 50% of shares for the particular wind farm, with a total investment of NTD$75 billion.
The Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm belongs to the 1st phase of the 900MW Greater Changhua South East and South West Offshore Wind Farm, and construction is expected to complete in 2022, where Orsted will retain the 50% of shares in the future. The majority of the negotiated amount this time that totaled to approximately NTD$75 billion (roughly DKK 16 billion) will be used to pay for the construction cost of the Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm, and awaits for the approval from relevant Taiwanese competent authority.
Matthias Bausenwein, President of Orsted Asia Pacific, commented that Orsted had been dedicated in sharing the abundant experience in offshore wind power with the financial sector of Taiwan since the development phase of the Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm, and that he is delighted in completing this important milestone today by bringing Orsted’s reliable partner CDPQ to Taiwan for the first time, as well as having the opportunity to work with Cathay PE, which allows local shareholders to have the chance in owning the particular wind farm.
This investment on the Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm is a major step for the infrastructure department under CDPQ that has a whopping degree of assets at CA$28 billion (roughly NTD$612.9 billion), as this is the first time for CDPQ in investing in offshore wind farms within Asia Pacific, which highlights the company’s confidence in the prominent achievements of Orsted in offshore wind power, and explains the decision in investing in the particular wind farm.
The financing for the 50% of shares in the Greater Changhua South East Offshore Wind Farm obtained by CDPQ and Cathay PE came from the project financing offered by 15 foreign and local banks, as well as 2 Taiwanese insurance companies. The participating financial institutions include Cathay United Bank, CTBC Bank, E Sun Bank, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Cathay Life Insurance Company, Taiwan Life Insurance, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, DZ Bank, HSBC Bank, Korea Development Bank, OCBC Bank, Siemens Bank, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and SMBC.
For this agreement, Orsted is responsible for planning the structure of the project financing for the investors, and the five international export credit agencies, including Export Kredit Fonden, UK Export Finance, Atradius, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, and Export Development Canada, will provide partial financing credit guarantees. This is also the first time for the Export Development Canada in participating in offshore wind power deals in Taiwan.
(Cover photo source: Orsted)