CaixaBank promotes the largest wind farm in the world
CaixaBank has participated in the financing of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world's largest offshore wind farm being built off the north-east coast of England. The total investment in the Dogger Bank wind farm will be around £9 billion. In December, the financing of phase C was closed, which has reached 3,000 million.
CaixaBank participated as Mandated Lead Arranger in the financing of phase C of this wind farm, together with 27 financial institutions and three export credit agencies. CaixaBank was also part of the financing of phases A and B of this project.
Dogger Bank will be completed in 2026. It will have a capacity of 3.6 GW and will produce enough clean, renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK's total demand, equivalent to the consumption of around six million homes.
UK company SSE Renewables is leading the development and construction of the Dogger Bank wind farm, while Norway's Equinor will operate it over its expected 35-year operating life. Both companies have a 40% stake in the company and recently Italy's ENI has joined the project by taking a 20% stake.
The United Kingdom is a key market for CaixaBank due to its size, economic prospects and strategic links with other major markets. CaixaBank's physical presence in the UK dates back to 2003, when the bank opened a representative office in London. The office became a branch in 2016.
CaixaBank's London branch is staffed by a team of professionals who provide corporate banking services to both UK companies and Spanish and multinational customers with significant activity and investments in the UK. CaixaBank UK offers both transactional and credit banking products (factoring, confirming, guarantees, short- and long-term corporate finance, project finance structures), as well as cross-border and foreign exchange solutions.
Since 2015, CaixaBank has participated in 16 renewable energy project finance transactions in the UK, with a total capacity of more than 12,000 MW.
In 2021, the CaixaBank Group mobilised 29,050 million in sustainable financing, an increase of 130% over the whole of 2020. A total of 8,250 million in financing linked to ESG variables was formalised, including environmental objectives, such as emissions reduction and energy efficiency, and 1,000 million in green financing.
CaixaBank has also participated in the issue of 18 green, sustainable or social bonds for a total amount of EUR 17,800 million. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, CaixaBank was the fifth largest bank in Europe in terms of green and sustainable loans in the League Tables Top Tier by volume, according to Refinitiv.
CaixaBank has issued seven bonds in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and is the European bank with the highest volume of ESG credit issues in euros: four green bonds and three social bonds, for a total value of €6 billion and £500 million.
By December 2021, CaixaBank had formalised more than 40 renewable financing operations, with a volume of EUR 3,250 million in Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, the United States and Chile.
