Northland Power Inc. said Thursday that its Hai Long offshore wind project in Taiwan had met all conditions to close its 1171 billion New Taiwan Dollars long-term non-recourse green financing. This is the equivalent of around CAD 5 billion, or $3,6 billion (at current rates).
The non-recourse green project financing will be provided by over 15 international and local lenders with support from multiple Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) including Export Development Canada (EDC), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), UK Export Finance (UKEF), Export Finance Australia (EFA), Export Finance Norway (Eksfin) and Credendo – Export Credit Agency of Belgium.
"Hai Long will play an important role in helping the Government of Taiwan achieve its renewable energy target of 15 GW of offshore wind to be constructed between 2026 and 2035. Once operational, Hai Long will be one of the largest offshore wind facilities in Asia, and will provide enough clean energy to power more than one million Taiwanese households," Northland Power said.
Northland is 60% owner of the Hai Long offshore wind project, with its partner Mitsui owning the remaining 40% of the project. Hai Long has three separate grid allocations - Hai Long 2a - 294 MW, Hai Long 2b - 224 MW, and Hai Long 3 - 504 MW.
The wind farm will be located 50-70 km from the shore of Changhua County in Taiwan and will consist of 73 large offshore wind turbines.
Siemens Gamesa will supply 73 SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines for the project, and has a contract to service the wind farm for 15 years.
The Hai Long offshore wind farm project is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026. Mitsui said last week that the project would cost around JPY 960 billion (currently around $6,4 billion) to build.
Export Finance Norway
Norwegian state-backed export credit agency Export Finance Norway (Eksfin) said Thurdsay it was providing NOK 2bn (EUR 180m) in loan financing to the Hai Long Wind park in the Taiwan Strait on the back of services rendered by Seaway 7.
In February 2023, Seaway 7, a renewables-focused subsidiary of the offshore installation firm Subsea 7, won a contract for the transport and installation of cables for the Hai Long offshore wind project.
Seaway 7's scope of work includes the transport and installation of inner-array cables, the respective cable protection systems, and four export cables. The export cables will connect the offshore substation to the onshore substation using horizontal directional drilling (HDD).
The cable installation will be carried out by the cable-lay vessel Maersk Connector, which is on long-term charter to Seaway 7.
As for the loan by Eksfin, the transaction increases Eksfin’s total financing commitment to the global offshore wind market towards EUR 2,6 billion.
"Offshore wind projects typically demand more capital than developers and their banks can finance on their own. State-backed guarantees from Eksfin carry the highest AAA credit rating and facilitates financing from private banks," Eksfin said.
This autumn, Eksfin says it is set to reach a total of NOK 30bn (EUR 2,6bn) in loans and guarantees linked to export contracts to offshore wind parks worldwide, amid expectations of further growth within renewables and green technology.
"Financing Norwegian deliveries to offshore wind projects globally is one of our core strategic priorities. I am very pleased that together with Seaway 7 we have succeeded in securing this important contract that strengthens its market position in Taiwan,” said Eksfin managing director Tone Lunde Bakker.
Lunde Bakker adds that in addition to Taiwan, Eksfin aims to increase Norwegian exports to the Far East including South Korea and Japan – key offshore wind markets where Norwegian companies are expected to establish a strong position.