INTERVIEW

Project Financing for Two Oﬀshore
Wind Farm Projects in France
First Loans by JBIC for Oﬀshore Wind Farm
Projects in FranceInterview with Deputy Director TAKAMATSU Yuki andSASAKI Kensuke, Division 2, New Energy and Power Finance
Department I, Infrastructure and Environment Finance GroupThe Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed inApril 2023 loan agreements in project ﬁnancing with two oﬀshore
wind power producers in France, which are invested in bySumitomo Corporation and others. The loans are co-ﬁnanced withprivate ﬁnancial institutions, BPI France and La Banque Postale.
One of the agreements was signed on April 5, 2023, withEoliennes en Mer Iles d'Yeu et de Noirmoutier S.A.S.
(Noirmoutier), amounting to up to EUR1.1 billion (totalco-ﬁnancing amount: EUR2.2 billion), and another was signed on
April 26, with Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Treport S.A.S. (LeTreport), amounting to up to EUR1.1 billion (total co-ﬁnancing
amount: EUR2.4 billion).

Projects in line with renewable energy
transition policy of France
Noirmoutier is invested in by Ocean Winds (Spain), Caisse desDépôts et Consignations (France) and Vendée Energie (France),
as well as Sumitomo Corporation. Noirmoutier will build, own,and operate an approximately 500 MW oﬀshore wind farm
located 16.5 km oﬀ the coast of Noirmoutier Island in the Bay ofBiscay, western France. Upon commencement of the wind farm's
commercial operation, the electricity generated by the project will
be sold to French electric utility company Electricite de France fora duration of 20 years.
On the other hand, Le Treport is invested in by SumitomoCorporation, Ocean Winds and Caisse des Dépôts etConsignations. Le Treport will build, own, and operate asimilar-sized oﬀshore wind farm located on the English Channel,
15.5 km oﬀ the coast of northern France. The electricity
generated by the project will be sold to Electricite de France for20 years.
Regarding the projects, TAKAMATSU explains: “France, thehost of the 2015 Paris Agreement, adopted the Law on Energy
and Climate in 2019, setting a goal to increase the proportion ofrenewable energy in its energy mix to at least 40% by 2030. To
achieve this goal, the government aims to increase the country'soﬀshore wind farm capacity to 2.4 GW in 2023 and 5 GW in2028. In April 2020, the government set another goal to achieve
net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, proclaiming its policy
to accelerate the decrease of nuclear power generation, reductionof fossil fuel consumption, and introduction of renewable energy
on a large scale. The two projects are in line with this policy, andthe second bidding projects for oﬀshore wind farms in France.”

Quickly ﬁnalizing JBICʼs ﬁrst loan agreementsfor oﬀshore wind farm projects in France
Regarding the two loans, JBIC received a request for projectﬁnancing from Sumitomo Corporation, which had participated inthe project in 2018. SASAKI says: “Since JBIC had never been
engaged in an oﬀshore wind farm project in France, we, together
with the Representative Oﬃce in Paris, reﬁned the scheme fromvarious angles as a case of project ﬁnancing in a developedcountry.”
Then, full-scale negotiations with the two companies started
in November 2022.
As JBIC had never worked with any sponsors other thanSumitomo Corporation, they expressed concerns about us: “CanSASAKI Kensuke

TAKAMATSU Yuki

you structure a project as quickly as we expect?” “Are there any
beneﬁts if we partner with one of Japanʼs policy-based ﬁnancial
institution with no experience in this area in our country?” Amongothers, they worried that we did not have a license to make adirect loan in France. So, we presented our achievements inproject ﬁnancing with the example of an UK oﬀshore wind farmproject in 2018. At the same time, we considered a ﬁnancing
scheme in accord with French ﬁnancial customs. On the economic
front, we managed to oﬀer loan terms that were beneﬁcial andsatisfactory for sponsors, by scrutinizing project risks by eachprocess, such as turbine manufacturing, groundwork, installation,and construction of transmission facilities,” SASAKI recalls.
“Regarding the conﬁrmation of environmental and social
considerations by JBIC, some asked why a ﬁnancial institution
goes that far. We ran ﬁeld studies with the Environmental
Assessment Oﬃce for almost two weeks in January 2023. We
checked whether appropriate actions had been taken forenvironmental and social consideration issues. In Paris, weinterviewed the environment teams of the two companies andrelevant authorities. And then, we visited both project sites tocheck if transmission lines would go around protected areas, ifdetailed explanations had been provided to local ﬁshermen, and soon. Through such actions and dialogues with sponsors andconstruction workers, I felt their views on us changed and we
gained more trust from them,” says TAKAMATSU.
The resulting trusting relationship facilitated the negotiations,leading to the formal signing of the agreements in April 2023. At
the party after the signing ceremony, the leaders of the twocompanies gave them a message, “We thank JBIC for not only
structuring the projects as quickly as expected but also providing
us with attractive terms of ﬁnancing.”

Using this achievement to support Japanesecompaniesʼ participation in overseas projects
About the achievement from these projects, TAKAMATSU says:“We contribute toward enhancing renewable energy supplies andincreasing the presence of Japanese companies in France. At thesame time, it is signiﬁcant for us to provide ﬁnancial support for
projects in which Japanese companies participated, while keepingwith a goal of the Japanese governmentʼ s Infrastructure System
Overseas Promotion Strategy 2025, ʻﬁnancial support for quality
energy and power infrastructure which complies with the hostcountryʼ s energy policy and curbs environmental impact by using
advanced technology.ʼ”“Based on the critical energy situation due to the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, the Government of France is alreadypreparing for bidding for the eighth oﬀshore wind farm project toaccelerate the enhancement of and transition to renewableenergy. In response, it is highly anticipated that many Japanesetrading companies and power companies will join the process. Theprojects we are engaged in are for oﬀshore, ﬁxed-bottom windfarms, and going forward, we hope to work on ﬂoating wind farmprojects as well. As members of JBIC, Japan's policy-based
ﬁnancial institution, we will use this achievement to actively support
Japanese companies that participate in renewable energy projects
in European countries, including France, by drawing on its various
ﬁnancial facilities and schemes for structuring projects and by
performing its risk-assuming function,” said SASAKI enthusiastically.