NBT builds EUR 370 million large-scale wind farm in Ukraine

In close cooperation with leading international industrial companies and financial investors, NBT plans to complete the construction of 64 wind turbines on 1.300 hectares by Syvash Lake in southern Ukraine in just 15 months. On completion the wind farm will be the largest wind farm in Ukraine to be financed by international non-recourse project-financing.

The EUR 292 million EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contract is part of the EUR 370 million total foreign investments in the wind farm, which will bring Ukraine significantly closer to its ambition of increasing domestic-sourced renewable energy from 6 to 11 percent by 2020.

NBT plans to develop an additional 860 MW of wind farms in Ukraine to be completed within the next three years, according to CEO Joar Viken of NBT AS.

“Business climate in Ukraine has visibly improved in recent years, and our decision to enter the Ukrainian market is based on the progress the country has been making. We appreciate the support of the Ukrainian Government, the Office of the National Investment Council, regional authorities and other partners for the efforts that made our windfarm project in southern Ukraine possible. We see an outstanding future for development of the Ukrainian renewable energy sector,” says Viken.

Also attending the ceremony were NBT’s international partners in the EPC contract; POWERCHINA, one of the largest power plant construction companies in the world, and Nordex Group, a leading producer of onshore wind turbines. The American investment bank J.P. Morgan is the financial advisor to NBT in the transaction.

“We are extremely happy to be working closely with POWERCHINA and Nordex to build this first wind farm in Ukraine to be financed by international project financing,” says Viken.

POWERCHINA welcomes the Syvash wind farm project as an opportunity to expand its presence in the international renewable energy sector and in the competitive European market.

“This 250 MW wind power project will include the highest international standards in terms of technology, quality, environmental, health and safety. The project marks a very important step in the globalization strategy of POWERCHINA,” says Mr. Li Yanming, vice president of POWERCHINA.

German Nordex Group will deliver the wind turbines totalling 250 MW for the NBT Syvash wind farm. *

“The Syvash wind farm order would mean a perfect market entry of the Nordex Group into the Ukrainian market,” says José Luis Blanco, CEO of the Nordex Group.

* When project finance has been secured, the manufacturer will publish detailed information on the future order receipt.

Contact

Joar Viken, CEO of NBT AS, Tel: +47 916 19 785, Email: joar.viken@nbtas.no

About NBT AS

NBT AS is a developer of wind farms and other renewable energy projects in emerging markets. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Oslo, Norway. NBT has operations in Norway, China, Cyprus, Pakistan, Singapore and Ukraine.

About POWERCHINA

POWERCHINA is an integrated construction group that provides investment and financing, planning design, engineering construction, equipment manufacturing and operation management for hydraulic and hydropower projects and infrastructure.

POWERCHINA achieved business revenues of 335 billion yuan ($52.3 billion) in 2017 with the profit of 13 billion yuan. The company ranked 190th among Fortune Global 500 in 2016.

About Nordex Group

The Nordex Group has installed wind power capacity of more than 23 GW in over 25 markets, generating sales of around EUR 3.1 billion in 2017. It currently has approximately 5,000 employees. The production network comprises plants in Germany, Spain, Brazil, the United States and India. The product range primarily concentrates on onshore turbines in the 1.5 - 4.8 MW class addressing the requirements of land constrained as well as grid constrained markets.

About J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan is a global leader in financial services, offering solutions to the world's most important corporations, governments and institutions in more than 100 countries.

Facts about the Syvash wind farm project

• In April 2018 NBT AS acquired SyvashEnergoProm LLC, a Ukranian company with a small wind farm in operation and a large wind project under development.

• Through an EPC contract with POWERCHINA and Nordex Group, NBT will build a wind farm with 64 units of 3.9 MW turbines.

• The wind farm will be the first non-recourse financed wind farm in Ukraine. Senior debt of EUR 269 million will be arranged by JP Morgan, a leading American investment bank.

• The construction schedule will ensure commissioning before December 31, 2019 so that the project receives the EUR 0.102/kWh green tariff for the period up to December 31, 2029.

• Building permit was obtained August 29th this year. Design work and pre-construction work have already commenced.