Frankfurt am Main – ING Wholesale Banking has successfully arranged a EUR 73 million project financing for the French wind farm developer Eco Delta, for construction and operation of the 48.4 MW onshore windfarm Maestral. The transaction represents a landmark as representing the largest greenfield onshore wind farm in the South of France of the year.
The Maestral wind farm, located in the Region Sud Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, is currently already under construction and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Sponsor and developer Eco Delta guarantees on-time and on-budget construction. The wind farm will be equipped with 22 turbines from the Danish manufacturer Vestas, each having a nominal capacity of 2.2 MW on hub height of 80 metres. Total debt for the project is ca EUR 86million, comprising a EUR 73 million Term Loan Facilty, and a suite of ancillary facilities. ING, teaming up with French-based transaction advisor Envinergy, will also support Eco Delta with the later sale of the wind farm.
“Maestral is the largest project Eco Delta has developed so far, and we are delighted to have ING as a very experienced financing partner for renewable energies at our side. ING’s team has shown outstanding capabilities in the structuring and execution of the financing, and contributed to ING’s reputation as a sustainable bank”, said Andrea Jouven, CEO of Eco Delta. Olaf Beyme, Head of Renewables & Power at ING Wholesale Banking Germany, commented: “We are thrilled to support our partner Eco Delta with this financing to build this milestone project. Eco Delta has demonstrated an excellent understanding of the requirements that really matter for a project financing, and we appreciated the highly professional cooperation. This transaction continues to showcase ING’s execution capabilities in France as one of the leading banks in the renewables space. We look forward to extending our pipeline and continue to provide customized solutions to meet our client’s financing needs”.
For the coordination of that financing process, Eco Delta was supported by Envinergy, an M&A and financial advisor specialized in the renewable energy market and by Noveo Finance as hedge advisor. Eric Reisse, partner of Envinergy “After identifying the specific needs of Eco Delta, we have conducted a competitive process between several reputable banks. ING’s offer was the most suitable one. Eco Delta and ING have then proven their professionalism and solution driven approach all along the negotiation process”.
About ING Wholesale Banking Germany
ING Wholesale Banking Germany comprises the corporate clients business of ING in Germany and is part of the ING Group’s worldwide Wholesale Banking network with offices in more than 40 countries. ING Wholesale Banking offers banking services for large, internationally operating corporate clients. In addition to traditional banking products such as Corporate Lending and Transaction Services, ING is a world leading name in structured & project financing concepts, complemented by capital market solutions. ING Wholesale Banking Germany has approximately 300 employees based in the headquarters Frankfurt am Main who were in charge of a credit volume of EUR 36 billion by the end of 2018.
About Eco Delta
Eco Delta is an independent company whose vocation is to promote, develop and operate wind and photovoltaic projects, respectful of the local population and the environment. It resolutely inscribes its actions in a process of local economic development. Active in France since 2002, Eco Delta has always placed innovation at the heart of its strategy and has filed several patents. To date the company has obtained building permits in France for more than 220MW. Together with its partners, Eco Delta has carried out numerous photovoltaic projects in the south of France, including the Mées photovoltaic parks and has sold two wind farms in the north of the country. With its experience, Eco Delta expands its scope and is now developing many international projects, including Moldova,Tunisia, Spain and Portugal.