Deepwater Wind, the US wind energy developer, has fully financed its Block Island project, reaching financial close on more than $290 million in project financing.
Mandated Lead Arrangers Societe Generale and KeyBank National Association provided the funding for the wind farm.
With these major agreements, Deepwater Wind has now secured all debt and equity funding needed to construct and operate its 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm – already under construction.
Deepwater Wind is the only United States offshore wind company to reach this critical milestone, thus will install America’s first offshore wind farm.
“We’re ecstatic to reach financial close and thrilled to be partners with Societe Generale and KeyBank for this groundbreaking clean energy project,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We’re full speed ahead and moving ever closer to ‘steel in the water.”
“Steel in the water” is planned for this summer, when all five foundations are scheduled for installation off the Block Island coast. The project will be in-service in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Alstom will supply five Haliade 150 6 MW offshore wind turbines for the project and has already completed the fabrication in Denmark of all 15 blades for the project.
Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc., began fabrication work in January 2015 at its facilities in Houma, Louisiana, on the wind farm’s five steel jacket foundations. That work is scheduled to be complete in several months.
Rhode Island-based Specialty Diving Services is expected to begin additional fabrication work on components of the foundation substructures at Quonset, Rhode Island in the coming weeks.
“We are on the cusp of bringing offshore wind from theory to reality in the U.S. We’re incredibly proud of our position at the forefront of the U.S. offshore wind industry,” Grybowski said.
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