Barclays gives funds to £40m wind farm

Published on 08/04/2011 12:36

BARCLAYS Corporate has provided the bulk of a funding deal close to £40 million for the Drone Hill wind farm in the Scottish Borders.

Owned by AES Wind Generation, a division of the AES Corporation, Drone Hill's 22 turbines will provide 28.6 megawatts of power, sufficient for 14,000 homes.

It has been financed with a combination of project financing through a long term loan of 22.8m from Barclays Corporate and AES Equity of 15.8m, a total project cost of 38.6m.

AES has entered into a 15-year power purchase contract with the European utility Statkraft, a relatively new player in the UK power market.

Ally Scott, managing director of Barclays Corporate Scotland, said the deal demonstrates the bank's "continuing and active role" in financing the onshore wind sector in Scotland.

David Wilson, AES project director, said Drone Hill was part of a continuing commitment by the company to building and operating wind projects in the UK. "We anticipate two more financings before the end of the year," he said.

Richard Mardon, managing director of project developer Your Energy, which was acquired by AES last April, said: "The successful financing of this deal marks a new phase in the evolution of Your Energy and points to the true value of our portfolio since integration into AES. We look forward to bringing more projects to fruition across the UK."

Construction will commence this month and the project will be brought into full commercial operation in August 2012.

Eversheds provided the legal advice for AES, with Shepherd and Wedderburn advising on Scottish Law. Barclays Corporate's lawyers were Norton Rose, with Burness advising on Scottish Law. Other advisers for Barclays Corporate included Garrad Hassan, JLT Specialty and Mazars. Statkraft employed the legal services of Wragge & Co.