May 13 (Renewables Now) – Financial close was achieved on the 372 MW Bjornberget wind project in Sweden following a € 300 million (US $ 363 million) debt financing agreement with a trio of lenders.

The milestone was announced Thursday by the owners of the project – Israel’s Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd (TLV: ENLT) and the Prime Green Energy Infrastructure Fund (PGEIF) of German asset manager Prime Capital AG.

DekaBank, KfW IPEX-Bank and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) will jointly provide non-recourse financing for the project, which has a budget of between 430 and 440 million euros. The debt includes a long-term facility of 210 million euros and additional facilities for guarantees, debt service reserve and VAT payments for a total of 90 to 95 million euros.

The Bjornberget wind farm is expected to come on stream by the end of 2022, generating 1.1 TWh per year – enough electricity for around 300,000 European homes. It will use 60 of the 6.2 MW turbines from Siemens Gamesa. Half of their production in the first 10 years of operation has already been contracted with an unnamed “global Tier 1 tech company†through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

UK-based RES, the original developer of Bjornberget, is managing the construction of the project and will also take care of the commercial and technical operations of the wind farm.

Israel’s Enlight controls 61% of Bjornberget, of which 51% through direct ownership and 10% through an investment in Prime Green Energy. The latter holds the remaining 49%.

(1.0 EUR = 1.210) USD