In its first five months of trading, the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) committed £635m (€735m) of its funds via 11 transactions, 16.2% of which was allocated to offshore wind deals.
During the five months to 31 March 2013, offshore wind received less of the GIB’s funds than other priority sectors. This could change if a recently announced memorandum of understanding between the bank and Abu Dhabi clean energy firm, Masdar, leads to further deals to fund UK offshore wind projects.
Compared with the £103m spent on offshore wind, the GIB committed £257m to waste infrastructure projects, £150m to non-domestic energy efficiency, and £125m to domestic energy efficiency (via the ‘Green Deal’).
The GIB’s two offshore wind transactions to date have been a £46m contribution to a debt refinancing deal for the Walney project and £57m for a quarter stake in Rhyl Flats.
Commenting on the GIB’s achievements thus far, chief executive Shaun Kingsbury said: "We are essentially a start-up and have a long road ahead of us as we build an enduring bank, but we’ve hit the ground running. Our mission goes beyond simply investing our own funds; our job is to crowd-in money from other sources. I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to bring in almost £3 of private funding for every £1 we have committed."
