French independent power producer Total Eren and Norwegian developer NBT have signed financing deals for the first phase of the 250MW Syvash wind project in the Ukraine.
The €155m financing agreement for the wind farm, which is the country’s largest renewables project, was signed at a special meeting of Ukraine’s National Investment Council in Davos.
Construction of the first phase of Syvash will start shortly.
In total Syvash will consist of 64 Nordex wind turbines and will be located on 1300 hectares of land in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine.
Nordex along with plant construction company PowerChina will provide engineering, procurement and construction services.
The electricity generated from Syvash will be sold to state-owned company Energorynok, Ukraine’s wholesale electricity market operator.
Syvash is the first internationally financed large-scale wind farm in Ukraine, representing a total investment of €380m.
An A/B loan of up to €155m has been raised for the construction of the initial 133MW phase.
It will consist of a €75m European Bank of Reconstruction and Development loan, while B-Loans of up to €75m will be provided jointly by the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).
The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is providing a parallel loan of €5m.
NBT chief executive Joar Viken said: “The 250MW Syvash wind farm is just the start of our plans to invest a considerable amount of capital in our large pipeline of wind projects in Ukraine over the next two to three years.
“With improved business climate in Ukraine and success of this international project financing, we envision that private commercial institutions and international investors will see the benefits of investing in Ukraine.
Viken said NBT sees potential interest for green bonds to finance its pipeline of new wind projects in the country.
He added: “We look forward to working with the Government of Ukraine and our strategic partners to support our expansion plans for investing in wind power in Ukraine.”