On 3 October 2016 Rentel NV secured EUR 850 million in debt funding for the financing of its 309 megawatt offshore wind farm to be located in the North Sea (between Thornton Bank and LodewijkBank), approximately 40 kilometers north of Ostend (Belgium). The construction of the wind farm, consisting of 42 turbines, is expected to start in May 2017 and to be completed by the end of 2018.

Rentel is a project company owned by Otary, Aspiravi Offshore II, DEME and its subsidiary DEME Concessions Wind , Elicio, Power@Sea, Rent-A-Port Energy, Socofe, SRIW and Wallonia Offshore Wind and Z-Kracht.

Law firm Loyens & Loeff advised the consortium of senior lenders consisting of ASN Bank N.V., Belfius Bank SA/NV, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., ING Belgium SA/NV, KBC Bank NV, KFW Ipex-Bank GmbH, Société Générale, AG Insurance, EKF Danmarks Eksportkredit, Nationale Delcrederedienst / Office National Du Ducroire and European Investment Bank.

The Loyens & Loeff project financing team, led by partner Marc Vermylen in collaboration with Thomas Chellingsworth for regulatory matters, gained extensive experience with financing renewable energy projects in the past, acting as Belgian legal counsel to Belwind (165 MW), Northwind (216 MW) and Nobelwind (165 MW) in relation to the financing and the construction of their offshore wind farms in the North Sea and advising the lenders and arrangers on the non-recourse financing of the first, second and third phases of the 325MW C-Power wind farm. The Loyens & Loeff team has been playing a leading and instrumental role in the financing and development of all offshore wind farms in Belgium to date.

Other law firms involved in the financing of the Rentel offshore wind farm were Allen & Overy (counsel to Rentel), White & Case / Jones Day (counsel to EIB) and Kromann Reumert (counsel to EKF and ONDD)