Leading renewable energy consultancy, SgurrEnergy, has delivered full technical lenders’ due diligence to KfW IPEX and the European Investment Bank, in support of the achievement of financial close on the 110MW Nordergrunde offshore wind farm.
Located within the German 12nm zone of the North Sea, 16km north of the German North Sea coast Nordergrunde is the sixth German offshore project SgurrEnergy’s Advisory team has supported to financial close in recent years.
SgurrEnergy began work on the project in December 2014 and as the lenders’ technical advisor, undertook a detailed technical, contractual and financial review of the project and identified and mitigated the technical issues which could have affected the ability to successfully reach financial close. As the project enters the implementation phase, SgurrEnergy will continue to support the lenders, providing construction monitoring and subsequently operational monitoring services.
Developed by wpd AG, the project will consist of 18 Senvion 6.2M126 wind turbine generators on monopile foundations which use a novel interface design. Offshore installation will commence on April 2016 with commercial operations anticipated in early 2017.
Wpd AG’s Eckhard Stürtz, project finance controller, said: “We are very satisfied with the work and expertise SgurrEnergy has provided us. We found their professionalism and expertise fundamental to us our achieving our goal of reaching financial close.”
SgurrEnergy’s Matthias Henke, Director of German Operations, said: “Due to their nature, offshore wind farms are related to higher risks than projects onshore and require careful risk assessment and mitigation. In supporting this project to financial close the individual teams of SgurrEnergy in Glasgow and Hamburg worked together and combined all their long term experiences and knowledge from offshore wind energy projects implemented in the UK and Germany.”
SgurrEnergy’s Project Manager of the assignment, Keith Williamson, said: “Through close collaboration with experienced industry players including wpd AG, kfw IPEX and the European Investment Bank, we were able to collectively compile a suitable package for the successful project financing of the wind farm. It was a pleasure to work with the parties involved and I look forward to continuing our involvement in the project during its construction and operation.”
SgurrEnergy is a leading renewable energy consultancy, providing engineering and technical advisory services in onshore and offshore wind, solar, wave and tidal and hydro projects.
Founded 13 years ago by technical director Ian Irvine and implementation director Steve McDonald, the company has been involved in more than 160GW of renewable energy projects in over 90 countries around the world.
Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, SgurrEnergy has over 230 staff in international offices in China (Beijing), Canada (Vancouver), India (Pune), France (Paris), Ireland (Dublin), the US (Portland, Austin and San Francisco), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Norway (Stavanger), Germany (Hamburg) and South Africa (Johannesburg). www.sgurrenergy.com
SgurrEnergy is a subsidiary business of Wood Group.
Wood Group is an international energy services company with over $7bn sales and operating in more than 50 countries. The Group is built on Core Values and has three businesses – Wood Group PSN, Wood Group Kenny and Wood Group Mustang – providing a range of engineering, production support and maintenance management services to the oil & gas, and power generation industries worldwide. www.woodgroup.com
