NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank finances the construction and subsequent operation of a major wind farm in France for the Austrian energy producer WEB Windenergie AG (W.E.B). The overall financing volume amounts to EUR 63 million.
Located in the Champagne-Ardenne region, the " Les Gourlus" onshore wind farm will be comprised of 12 directly driven Siemens wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.2 MW. When completed, the facility will have an overall capacity of 38.4 MW and provide power for 35,000 households in the future. The wind farm is scheduled to go online in late December 2016. Its servicing and maintenance is to be handled by Siemens over a period of 20 years.
“The Les Gourlus wind farm represents a further step in the expansion of our activities in France as a key market. France is among the leading European locations for the renewable energies segment", said Eckhard Forst, member of the NORD/LB Managing Board. "We are benefiting from the fact that we already took on a pioneering role two decades ago in this sector in which we now have a wealth of unparalleled expertise."
"This project is the biggest individual investment to date in W.E.B's history. We are delighted to have such a professional and experienced financing partner for renewable energies as NORD/LB at our side", adds Dr. Michael Trcka, CFO of W.E.B.
With total assets of EUR 190 billion, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank is among Germany's leading commercial banks. Its core business fields include structured financing in the energy and infrastructure sectors, ship and aircraft financing, corporate banking, capital market business and the servicing of private and corporate customers. NORD/LB's overall financing volume in the renewable energies segment currently stands at EUR 8.2 billion, 73.5 percent of which is accounted for by wind energy projects. A new ranking by the internationally prestigious trade publication IJ Global – Project Finance & Infrastructure Journal puts NORD/LB in fourth place worldwide in the "Mandated Lead Arranger Renewables" category. The bank is headquartered in Hanover, Braunschweig and Magdeburg, with branch operations in Düsseldorf, Munich, Hamburg, Schwerin and Stuttgart. NORD/LB is represented outside of Germany by a mortgage bank in Luxembourg and branches in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai.
The Austrian company WEB Windenergie AG (W.E.B) operates wind farms, photovoltaic and hydroelectric power plants in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Canada. With around 3,700 shareholders, it is Austria's biggest independent citizen participation company in the wind energy sector.
www.windenergie.at
