Masdar Achieves Financial Close of London Array Project

Masdar Energy UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, today announced the completion of a 12 year limited-recourse project financing of up to £266 million for its stake in phase one of London Array. The landmark financing is the first time that a limited-recourse structure has been completed for an unincorporated joint venture within the renewable energy industry. 

Inaugurated on July 4, 2013, attended by the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron alongside other dignitaries, the 630-megawatt London Array is the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The project is a €2.2 billion unincorporated joint venture between shareholders DONG Energy (50 per cent), E.ON (30 per cent) and Masdar Energy UK (20 per cent).

“Reaching financial close on a project of this scale and complexity marks another milestone in Masdar’s dedication to breaking new ground within the renewable energy sector,” said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar. “London Array is delivering half a million UK homes with clean energy and further reinforcing the UAE’s position as a responsible and diversified energy supplier.”

“While the London Array financing is a great success, it is critical to the future of the renewable energy industry that we see a deepening level of engagement from the financial sector,” said Dr. Al Jaber. “We need increased collaboration between institutional investors and the renewable energy industry to drive down cost and accelerate adoption.”  

The project financing includes five international lenders: The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., KFW-IPEX Bank, Siemens Bank GMBH, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and the UK Green Investment Bank PLC. 

Masdar and its shareholder Mubadala were advised by Norton Rose Fulbright and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. Advisors to the lenders included Allen & Overy  and Sgurr Energy.

London Array, located in the outer Thames Estuary, started generating power in October 2012.  The 175th and final turbine was brought online in March 2013 and the wind farm is now supplying around 500,000 UK homes with electricity each year.

More than 75 organisations and 6,700 individuals helped or were involved in delivering London Array.