On 21 October 2015 Nobelwind secured a EUR 650 million financing for the construction and operation of its offshore wind farm located on the Bligh Bank, approx. 46 km off the Belgian coast. The funding is provided by the European Investment Bank, BNP Paribas Fortis, Rabobank, SMBC, Mizuho Bank, EKF and GIEK.

Nobelwind, owned by Parkwind (Colruyt, PMV and Korys), Meewind and Sumitomo Corporation, will be constructed next to the Belwind power plant. It will consist of 50 turbines, generating a total energy capacity of 165 MW, equivalent to the energy consumption of around 186,000 households. The construction of the fourth Belgian wind park will start in the spring of 2016 and is expected to be operational by the end of 2017.

Loyens & Loeff assisted the Nobelwind team from the early stages up to the financial close. We provided regulatory advice and assisted with the legal due diligence and the negotiation of the various project and finance documents. The financial close took place in our offices in Brussels.

The Loyens & Loeff Projects team, led by Marc Vermylen, has extensive experience with renewable energy projects. The team also acted as counsel to Belwind (165 MW) and Northwind (216 MW) in relation to the financing and the construction of their offshore wind farms in the North Sea. It also assisted the lenders and arrangers with the non-recourse financing of the different phases of the C-Power (325 MW) wind farm. Loyens & Loeff can proudly state to be the only firm that has assumed an instrumental role as legal advisor in the financing and development of all offshore wind farms in Belgium to date.

The Loyens & Loeff team consisted of Marc Vermylen (Lead Partner), Thomas Chellingsworth (Partner), Godfried Ampe (Counsel), Koen Panis (Senior Associate), Dominique Vanherck (Associate), Toon Jacobs (Associate), Sarah Libregts (Associate), Christine Delagaye (Associate), Baptist Vleeshouwers (Associate), Caroline Coppens (Associate), Nils Vermeulen (Associate), Gaia Pattyn (Associate) and Mathias Diricx (Associate).

Other law firms involved in the debt financing of the Nobelwind offshore wind farm were White & Case LLP (counsel to the lenders), Clifford Chance (special counsel to EIB) and Kromann Reumert (special counsel to EFK and GIEK).