Ørsted bags $806m green loan for Taiwan wind projects

It plans to build four offshore wind farms in Changhua county.

Ørsted bagged a $806m (NT$25b) syndicated green loan facility from 15 banks for its offshore wind farm projects in Taiwan, the country's news agency reports.

Bank of Taiwan, Cathay United Bank, and BNP Paribas will serve as mandated lead arrangers for the loan facility. Each will lend $96.67m (NT$3b) to the developers, whilst the 12 other banks, which include eight government-invested banks, will share the remaining loan.

The interest rate for the five-year loan will stand at the Taipei Interbank Offered Rate, or TAIBOR, plus 55 basis points, so the lowest rate could be around 1.7%.

Ørsted plans to build four offshore wind farms in Changhua country. The projects will be located 35-50 kilometers off the coast and have a total capacity of about 900MW. They will be constructed in 2021 and 2022.

Earlier this year, it was met with woes after it failed to get an establishment permit in time to sign a 2018 power purchase agreement (PPA) with Taipower for the offshore wind projects, Changhua 1 and 2a.

Ørsted is planning to issue green loans on the local market by the end of this year to finance the first phase of the investment.