International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised three subsidiaries of Terna Energy (“Terna”) on a €24m bond loan financing provided by the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) and Eurobank Ergasias acting as co-lenders. This facility will be used for the development, construction, and operation of three wind farms consisting of 18 wind turbines in total, with a combined installed capacity of 48.6 MW. The wind farms will be located in Viotia, central Greece, and will be connected to two existing substations through underground cabling. The windfarms are expected to generate more than 120 GWh on an annual basis for the Greek electricity system.
This loan is part of the “Juncker Plan”, the Investment Plan for Europe, and benefits from the support of the EU budget guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Jonathan Taylor, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending in Greece, commented: “The EIB is committed to financing green energy projects across the European Union. We are particularly pleased that this project promotes renewable and clean energy for the people of Greece, but it also enhances energy security and will help the country meet its renewable energy targets. This is precisely the kind of operation the Investment Plan for Europe was designed to support. I am delighted about this further step to bring the benefits of the European Fund for Strategic Investments to Greece. Looking ahead, the EIB is following developments in the Greek electricity sector and stands ready to finance sound projects that fulfil its criteria and EU energy policies.”
Terna manages projects with a total installed capacity of 786 MW, 516 MW of which is in Greece. The Group has also secured licenses to construct Renewable Energy Sources (“RES”) installations with a capacity of 194 MW in both Greece and abroad, and is expected to exceed 1000 MW of RES projects in operation the following years.
The WFW team was led by Athens Partner Virginia Murray, supported by Associates Matina Kanellopoulou and Eirini Portokalaki.
Virginia commented: “Terna Energy is one of the most active and innovative energy companies in Greece; we were pleased to support it in the first major wind financings under the Juncker Plan. The WFW Athens team has been involved in many of the ground breaking wind transactions over the last 20 years and we are proud to add the first EFSI Greek wind financing to this list”.
