Aviva Investors, the global asset-management business of Aviva, has participated in the €1.5 billion ($1.74 billion) amended financing of the Merkur offshore windfarm, located in the North Sea in the German Exclusive Economic Zone.
Aviva Investors is the sole institutional investor involved in the financing, along with bank lenders. Aviva Investors’ participation is fixed rate and matures in 2035.
The facility has a capacity of 396 megawatts and construction is at an advanced stage, with completion due in March 2019.
The project is supported by a group of sponsors, comprising the industrial companies General Electric (via Coriolis, a joint venture between GE and L’Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie) and the Deme Group, as well as the institutional investors Partners Group and InfraRed Capital Partners.
The project will operate under the German “Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz” (Renewable Energy Act) tariff regime, which protects renewable projects against power price fluctuations. This is seen as a unique opportunity to invest in one of the last German new builds in offshore wind to be eligible under this regime.
Infrastructure debt is a key part of Aviva Investors’ €42 billion ($48.9 billion) Real Assets platform.