Alongside Macquarie, RWE Innogy and Siemens Financial Services, the Green Bank will invest a quarter of the equity in the £1.5bn Galloper offshore wind project to create enough renewable energy to power around 330,000 homes annually.
To be built off the Suffolk coast, the scheme has secured £1.37bn in debt from a consortium of 12 commercial banks, plus the EIB, which will invest £225m through its European Fund for Strategic Investments.
The scheme is the first UK deal to benefit from the EFSI facility, which was unveiled as part of the Investment Plan for Europe to increase the amount of cash reaching infrastructure projects across Europe.
“With the compelling technical and financial credentials of this partnership, we were able to deploy capital quickly to achieve financial close,” said Mark Dooley, head of infrastructure, utilities and renewables at Macquarie Capital Europe.
Construction on the wind farm is now scheduled to start in November, with operations due to begin in March 2018.
Green Bank invests in wind farm
The UK’s Green Investment Bank has become a 25% joint equity partner in a new offshore wind farm project, alongside private partners and debt from the European Investment Bank (EIB).