EIB funds German wind farm

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has confirmed financing of €450 million for the Butendiek wind farm in Germany.

With 80 turbines, it will have a total generating capacity of 288MW, making it one of the biggest offshore wind projects to be developed in the German part of the North Sea. The total cost will be €1.4 billion.

Butendiek will be built 53km off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein and 32km to the west of the island of Sylt. Construction work will start in the first half of 2014 and will last until the middle of 2015. The operator is WPD Group.

Apart from the EIB, the Danish government export credit agency Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), KfW and nine commercial banks will also be involved in financing the wind farm.