A cross-border Linklaters team advised Northland Power Inc.(NPI) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Mitsui) as joint developers, and the Hai Long project companies, on the TWD 117bn project financing of the 1,022MW Hai Long offshore wind farm project in Taiwan. The project comprises Hai Long 2A (300MW), Hai Long 2B (232MW) and Hai Long 3 (512MW).
The senior debt facility agreements were signed on 22 September 2023 and financial close occurred on 28 September. Financial close has been achieved despite several challenges facing the global industry.
This transaction marks the first large-scale offshore wind financing in Asia backed with a corporate power purchase offtake (CPPA). It is also the first offshore wind financing in Asia for certain financial institutions.
The financing group comprises over 15 international and local lenders with critical support from each of the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs): Export Development Canada (EDC), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), UK Export Finance (UKEF), Export Finance Australia (EFA), Export Finance Norway (Eksfin) and Credendo – Export Credit Agency of Belgium.
This financing is the largest non-recourse offshore wind financing to date in Asia. Once operational, Hai Long should deliver enough clean energy to provide power to more than one million households.
Gentari International Renewables Pte. Ltd will acquire 49% of NPI’s ownership interest shortly after financial close.
The cross-border Linklaters team from Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Tokyo and London, was led by Asia Head of Energy & Infrastructure John Maxwell, together with energy & infrastructure partners Mark Veitch (led on Construction), James McLaren (led on CPPA), Ying Fu, Richard Coar, and Ilia Ditiatev. The core team included Jia-Fang Lee, Daniel Senger, Derek Loh, Anna McDonald, David Douglas, Will Chen, Olivia Mok, Kiko Yap, Xingyi Li, Jie Yun Phua,Eugene Loh and Victoria Lau.
Additional expertise was provided by Rachel Barrett, Aileen Buchanan and Iyesopgie Igiehon (Environmental & Social); Stephen Song, Nicole Chan, William Fong and Kandice Wan (pre-hedging and hedging); Grace Sim, Grace Wong, Dave Yeo, Sophie Mathur, Andrew Payne and Dior Lin (banking and M&A).
