Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a consortium of lenders in relation to the project financing of three onshore wind projects to be constructed by Banks Renewables Limited.

The projects are the 88MW Kype Muir and 51MW Middle Muir projects in South Lanarkshire and the 12MW Moor House wind farm near Darlington in northeast England. The projects are all supported by Contracts for Difference, having been successful in bidding for CFDs in the first auction round.

The consortium of lenders includes lenders represented by Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS), Santander, ING, NAB and Rabobank.

Rob Marsh, partner, Norton Rose Fulbright comments:

“This is an exciting transaction, being (we understand) the first hybrid bank/ institutional deal in the UK market with full construction risk. This structure allows for risk allocation to commercial lenders during the construction period and institutional investors during the longer term operational period.  It demonstrates the continued ability for sponsors, advisers and lenders in this space to innovate and find solutions to provide long term financing solutions and I expect we will see this structure replicated for other energy and infrastructure projects.” 

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Rob Marsh, supported by senior associate Sarah Brogan and associates Melusi Dlamini and Inga Aryanova.  They were assisted by: partners Angela Savin, Nick Pincott, Dan Wagerfield and Daniel Franks; of counsel, Tim Baines; senior associate, Tyson Neil; and associates Emily Colville, Charlotte Brown and James Carroll.

This transaction follows a string of market leading renewables financings that the Norton Rose Fulbright team has been involved in, including most recently advising a consortium of lenders and financial institutions in relation to the financing of the £2.6bn Beatrice offshore wind farm in Scotland.