Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised a consortium of lenders including The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”), Japan International Cooperation Agency (“JICA”) and Société de Promotion et de Participation Pour la Coopération Economique (“Proparco”) on the US$300m senior financing for the construction, development and financing of a 200 MW capacity onshore wind farm in Ras Ghareb, Egypt.
The project is being developed by Infinity Power Holding, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) and Infinity Power, which is Africa’s largest renewable energy provider. Once built, the wind farm is expected to produce 810,000 MWh per year, helping support Egypt’s sustainability ambitions by avoiding the equivalent of 403,672 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
The cross-border WFW Projects team who advised EBRD, JICA and Proparco was led by Dubai Projects Partner Alhassane Barry. He was supported by London Projects Partners Paul Simpson and Emmanuel Ninos and Dubai Associates Sarah Findlay, Rachel Lee and Benjamin Ruffet. London Capital Markets Partner Rob McBride and Associate Kristina Buckberry assisted on the hedging aspects of the transaction.
Alhassane commented: “It has been a privilege to have supported EBRD, JICA and Proparco as lenders on this strategic project for Infinity Power and MASDAR and to lead it to a successful closing. The project will significantly advance the sustainability ambitions of Infinity Power and Masdar, as well as Egypt’s renewable energy goals, and highlights our continued focus on cutting edge strategic energy projects”.