Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) Skyborn Renewables has reached a preliminary agreement with lenders on debt concerns related to the 640 MW Yunlin offshore wind farm, a spokesperson with the Bureau of Energy told Infralogic.
The biggest shareholder might resolve the problem through an equity infusion, he added, although the final result of the discussions is subject to change.
GIP acquired wpd offshore in 2022 and renamed it Skyborn Renewables.
In January, Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy said it had asked Skyborn to explain delays related to its Yunlin offshore wind project and warned of fines and lower feed-in tariffs if it continues to miss deadlines.
This came after local news reports said rising costs for Yunlin had resulted in financial constraints, which could affect the development process. The project was to be fully commissioned in 2022.
A spokesperson with Skyborn Renewables told Infralogic that the company is not in a position to comment until all discussions are complete. In a January response to a query from this news service, it said it was in the process of drawing up a final schedule for installation and commercial operations.
The Yunlin project will feature 80 wind turbines. So far, 16 have been installed.
As of September 2022, eight local banks and 12 foreign lenders had participated in the TWD 66.7bn (USD 2.2bn) syndicated debt facility backing Yunlin, according to the Banking Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan. The loan is 60% covered by insurance from foreign export credit agencies and domestic lenders have committed about TWD 23.6bn debt financing for the project.
As of the end of September last year, seven offshore wind developers in Taiwan had signed a combined TWD 350bn in loans with banks, according to the commission.
