Fid Financial Close

National Wind Power reached an effective final investment decision for the 60 MW North Hoyle offshore wind farm in 2002, when the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) awarded the project a £10 million capital grant and the developer confirmed that this support unlocked a major construction contract. The Windpower Monthly report explains that North Hoyle, along with the Scroby Sands project, had “cleared their final hurdle” after being promised this grant funding under the DTI’s offshore wind capital grants programme. Crucially, National Wind Power stated that the capital grant “triggers the release of a £74 million turnkey contract for construction of North Hoyle,” signalling that contractual commitments and funding were sufficiently secured for the project to proceed into execution.[1] A companion report from RenewableEnergyWorld dated 13 August 2002 describes the same turnkey contract as having been awarded by National Wind Power to a consortium of Mayflower Energy and Vestas – Celtic Wind Technology. The contract covers 30 Vestas V80-2.0 MW turbines, foundations, electrical infrastructure, remote monitoring and five years of service, with installation scheduled for summer 2003 at a site off the north coast of Wales.[2] Together, these sources demonstrate that by mid‑August 2002, North Hoyle’s construction contract and associated funding package were in place, marking financial close and enabling full-scale offshore construction to commence on the UK’s first large commercial offshore wind farm.[1][2]