DONG secures £250m loan

DONG Energy has signed a £250m loan agreement with the European Investment Bank as part of the financing for the London Array offshore wind farm.

The financing - guaranteed by the Danish Export Credit Agency on the basis of deliveries from Siemens Wind Power and Per Aarsleff - is in line with DONG Energy’s strategy to diversify its funding and to fund projects out of the parent company.

The first phase of the London Array wind farm has a capacity of 630MW and is expected to begin operation in 2012.

Once completed it will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. DONG Energy owns 50 per cent of the farm, with E.ON (30 per cent) and Masdar (20 per cent) holding the remaining shares.

Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen, chief financial officer of DONG Energy, said: ‘DONG Energy’s goal is to reach at least 3,000MW of wind turbine capacity by 2020, and London Array is a cornerstone in this transition towards a greener future.

‘The guaranteed EIB funding of the project supports our robustly financed investment programme.’