UK Export Finance (UKEF) has agreed to support a Taiwanese offshore wind project with its largest ever project financing guarantee for renewables, securing over £130 million in UK manufacturing and service exports.
The government export credit agency is supporting the Hai Long project – Taiwan’s largest offshore wind project to date – with a guarantee for NT$15 billion of financing, equivalent to £380 million. This contribution supports a project financing package of over £3 billion issued by more than 15 lenders to the Hai Long project, which is being developed by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”) of Japan and Northland Power of Canada. UKEF was one of seven export credit agencies which guaranteed this financing.
UKEF issued the guarantee under its Buyer Credit facility on the condition that the Hai Long project procures from the UK supply chain, sealing new export opportunities for UK manufacturers.
With the 1 GW facility expected to power over one million households upon completion, this transaction also sees UKEF continue to widen its portfolio of renewable-energy projects which support global efforts to transition towards net zero. This is UKEF’s fourth deal supporting an offshore wind project in Taiwan and brings UKEF’s total commitment to clean energy projects in the Asia Pacific region to over £1.2 billion.
Tim Reid, CEO of UK Export Finance, said:
Clean energy projects like Hai Long are a priority for UK Export Finance as we engage with global efforts to reach net zero. With the recent OECD Arrangement modernisation increasing the range of support which we can offer for climate-friendly projects, we can expect to see and support more multi-agency transactions like this in the future that will benefit British businesses.
Ryo Zushiden, GM of 2nd Dept, Division I (Asia), Infrastructure Projects Business Unit of Mitsui, said:
Mitsui aims to boost renewable energy projects to account for more than 30% of its power generation portfolio by 2030 and to accomplish this goal, Hai Long Offshore Wind Project is one of Mitsui’s most important investments in renewable energy sector. Mitsui appreciates the robust support and commitment to Hai Long that UK Export Finance provides which will strongly help drive Mitsui’s clean energy strategy.
Mike Crawley, CEO of Northland Power, said:
The Hai Long financing is Northland’s first in Asia and once operational, the project will diversify our cash flows and provide significant value for our shareholders. Hai Long will play an important role in helping the Government of Taiwan achieve its renewable energy target of 15 GW of offshore wind. Northland strongly appreciates the important role that UKEF has played in the Hai Long project financing.