Merkur Offshore Wind

Amsterdam Capital Partners (Amscap), that merged with Voltiq in 2022, advised Merkur Offshore GmbH on arranging the EUR 1.6 billion financing for the 396MW Merkur Offshore wind project. 

Close to EUR 500 million in equity was provided by a consortium of five sponsors comprising of Partners Group (on behalf of its clients)‎, InfraRed Capital Partners, DEME Concessions Wind, GE Energy Financial Services and L’Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie (ADEME), acting in the name and on behalf of the French State.

A further EUR 1.2 billion in senior secured debt package was provided by a group of ten leading international and local banks consisting of ABN Amro, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, KfW IPEX, KfW Mittelstandsbank, Natixis, Rabobank, SEB, SMBC and Société Générale.

Amscap advised Merkur since April 2015, also providing the project director responsible for financing the project. Since then, Merkur was entirely reconfigured, including deploying a new turbine. Within 12 months, the project was restructured into an attractive investment opportunity for equity sponsors and a highly bankable financing proposition for lenders.

Merkur is one of Germany’s largest wind farms, located approximately 45km north of the islands of Borkum, Germany, in the North Sea. Construction was under a dual contract structure with GE supplying 66 Haliade 150-6MW offshore wind turbines and GeoSea, member of the DEME Group, as turnkey contractor for the entire balance of plant. Merkur generates approximately 1,750 GWh annually, enough clean energy to power around 500,000 homes.