Boralex, a Canadian renewable energy developer and its Innu community partners at Parc éolien Apuiat S.E.C. (Innu) have secured $608m (C$827.3m) in funds for the 200MW Apuiat wind farm on Quebec’s North Shore.
The long-term financing for the wind farm was provided by Desjardins Group, which acted as the coordinating lead arranger. Other financial institutions included CaixaBank, DZ Bank AG and the Korea Development Bank.
The financing includes a $465.3m construction loan. It will be converted to a term loan with a 25-year term after the wind farm begins operations in the second half of next year.
A short-term loan of $142.7m will also be provided. It will include a bridge loan and a letter of credit to finance certain costs incurred during construction.
The bridge loan is expected to reduce the amount of equity attributed to the project in the short term, thereby optimising the capital structure of the developers.
Interest on a significant portion of the long-term financing will be fixed under an interest-hedging arrangement.
Desjardins has designed an environmental, social and governance (ESG) swap, which includes cashback, that will cover the debt’s interest rate risk and reward the achievement of key ESG performance indicators.
The amount of cashback paid will be based on the commitments of the ESG impact and the efforts made by the company to achieve them.
Boralex executive vice-president and chief financial officer Bruno Guilmette said: “The financing announced today shows the strength of our company, as well as attesting to the quality of the Apuiat project. I am immensely proud of the work done by Boralex’s teams, supported by our Innu and financial partners, to put in place this innovative financing that allows Boralex increased financial flexibility.
“The construction of the Apuiat project marks the beginning of a period of strong growth for Quebec’s wind power, in which Boralex intends to strongly contribute by leveraging its vast experience as an energy asset developer and operator.”
The 200MW Apuiat wind farm will be powered by 34 turbines. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the winter of this year and is scheduled for commissioning next December.
