Vestas has signed a €2bn revolving multi-currency credit facility with a group of leading banks supporting the turbine maker’s aim to “accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and drive technological innovation”.
The facility, which is available for general corporate purposes, including guarantees issuance in relation with wind power projects, carries a five-year tenor with two one-year extension options, replacing Vestas’ undrawn €1.15bn revolving credit facility signed in 2017.
The transaction, concluded following the assignment of a strong credit rating of Baa1 from Moody´s.
The manufacturer said it “underlines a growing confidence in Vestas’ continued financial and operational transformation, as well as in the significant projected growth of renewable energy in the near future”.
The renewed facility will be “key in supporting Vestas’ work with driving deployment, and evolving new technology, as well as supporting increased sustainability performance across Vestas’ value chain”.
The facility will be directly linked with Vestas’ sustainability strategy entitled “Sustainability in everything we do” and its interest rate margin will be adjusted based on sustainability-linked performance targets, marking the first time Vestas has engaged with sustainability-linked financing.
These targets measure Vestas’ ability to reduce its own carbon footprint and enhance workplace safety while subsequently adding ambitious targets to improve the carbon footprint across its supply chain.
Performance targets will also cover ambitions around more sustainable materials use, and increased recyclability across the turbine value chain.
Vestas executive vice president and chief financial officer Marika Fredriksson said: “At Vestas, we are striving to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy by building scale and driving growth across our business.
“Following the strong credit rating from Moody’s obtained earlier this year, strengthening our financial capabilities is the next natural step in this journey, and linking interest rates margins with Vestas’ sustainability performance reinforces our ambition to integrate sustainability into everything we do.”