Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
On 20 December 2005, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a loan agreement for the Barrow Offshore Windpower project, a 90 MW offshore wind farm located in the East Irish Sea near Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom. The EIB project sheet records a signed amount of €95,286,960.35, with the proposed EIB finance described as up to GBP 60 million against an estimated total project cost of about GBP 123 million. The promoter for the financing is listed as Barrow Offshore Wind Farm / DONG A/S, with contact details supplied for DONG in Denmark. The project’s objective is to provide renewable energy to the public network, contributing to the UK Government’s target of increasing the share of electricity generation from renewable sources to 10% by 2010. The description notes that the wind farm is expected to produce around 305 GWh annually, equivalent to supplying more than 65,000 households with renewable energy. The project falls under Annex II of the EIA Directive, and planning permission had been granted on the basis of an Environmental Impact Assessment carried out in May 2002. Environmental issues are being monitored before, during, and after construction, with results reported annually to the authorities, and the promoter is required to implement recommended mitigating measures. The project is being implemented under a fixed lump sum EPC contract tendered in 2004 in accordance with EU procurement directives, indicating that key contractual and financing structures were in place at the time of the EIB loan signature.