Linklaters advises on first Polish Offshore Wind Financing
Linklaters has advised a group of commercial lenders, ECAs and multilateral financial institutions on the development and $5.2bn non-recourse green financing of the Baltic Power offshore wind farm, which is owned by ORLEN (51%) and Northland Power (49%). This is the first offshore wind farm to reach financial close in Poland.
The multi-sourced green financing is being provided by twenty-five international and local commercial banks, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and is supported by three export credit agencies, namely Euler Hermes, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and Export Development Canada.
Baltic Power is being developed off the Polish coast, near Łeba and Choczewo, and once completed in 2026 will have a capacity of ca. 1,140 MW and will generate enough electricity to provide over 1.5 million Polish households with clean energy. The project benefits from CfD support under the first round of CfDs awarded by the Polish government under the Offshore Wind Act.
The Linklaters team was led by managing associates Isabella Peplinski (Energy and Infrastructure, London) and Jakub Dąbrowski (Energy and Infrastructure, Warsaw), supervised by partners Richard Coar (Energy and Infrastructure, London), Marta Domino (Banking and Finance) and Patryk Figiel (Energy and Infrastructure, both Warsaw). Key team members included: partner Thomas Schulz (Corporate, Berlin), senior associate Maciej Chęciński (Banking and Finance, Warsaw), associates Dominik Piechowiak (Energy and Infrastructure) and Marcin Wołoszyn (Banking and Finance, both Warsaw), managing associate Laura Marx-Pfälzner (Corporate, Berlin), associates Hadiah Amirullah and Katie Rivers (both Energy and Infrastructure, London), managing associates Wojciech Podlasin (Antitrust & Foreign Investment, Warsaw), Iyesogie Igiehon (Environment) and associate Daniel Hilbert (Structured Finance, both London). The transaction required close cooperation between numerous Linklaters offices around the world including Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Paris and Frankfurt.
Richard Coar comments:
“We are delighted to have been able to advise on the first, of hopefully many, offshore wind farms in Poland. We are also very proud to have been able to help a number of financial institutions to make their first investments in offshore wind. Transactions of this nature really do showcase Linklaters’ market-leading global offshore wind and cross-practice capabilities, with lawyers from Poland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the US as well as the UK all working together as a team to provide seamless advice to deliver this complex deal. Wherever in the world our clients need support in the energy transition space, we are there for them.”
Marta Domino comments:
“The range of financial institutions from across the globe who have committed to this first-in-the-market deal shows the appetite amongst the global community to invest in Poland and its energy sector. This project will create a host of social benefits, such as a stable supply of clean energy and new jobs, while contributing towards a sustainable economy.”
Patryk Figiel comments:
“As the first offshore wind project to be developed in the region, this is truly a transformational deal for the Polish energy market and we are pleased to have been able to demonstrate our regulatory expertise coupled with local market knowledge to help our clients invest in this groundbreaking transaction.”
