TNB SEALS £72 MLN REFINANCE PACKAGE FOR ITS UK OFFSHORE WIND INVESTMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- National utility company, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vantage RE Ltd, has successfully completed a £72 million (£1=RM5.29) refinance package with two major lenders in the United Kingdom (UK) on Dec 16, 2022.

The financing facility with Mizuho Bank Ltd (Mizuho) and National Westminster Bank Plc (Natwest) featured a 15-year tenure and is related to the utility company’s offshore wind investment in Blyth Offshore Demonstrator Limited (BODL), TNB said in a statement released here, today.

BODL is the entity that currently owns an operating 41.5-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm located off the northeast coast of England, in partnership with EDF Renewables, the renewable energy (RE) arm of French state-owned utility company, Électricité de France (EDF). 

Vantage RE has a 49 per cent stake in BODL, with the acquisition completed in October 2021.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Ir Baharin Din said TNB was delighted complete the refinancing with two high-quality lenders in the UK. 

"This refinancing allows us to unlock our renewables portfolio value through further optimisation of the existing capital structure and has demonstrated confidence in Vantage RE’s capabilities in the UK RE market. 

"The net proceeds will be recycled to fund TNB’s RE growth in Europe as we continue to focus on achieving our long-term growth objectives," he said.

Baharin said this marked Vantage RE’s second successful refinancing exercise in 2022, with the first being the £275 million refinancing of its 365MW solar portfolio in Vantage Solar UK Ltd completed in February 2022. 

Vantage RE’s asset portfolio consists of solar, onshore and offshore wind assets totaling 530MW in generation capacity, with a further 102MW of solar under construction that is expected to achieve commissioning in the first quarter of 2024.

--  BERNAMA