Brookfield completes €325m refinance of Irish wind portfolio

BROOKFIELD Renewable Partners, the Canadian company that bought Bord Gáis’s wind farm assets in 2014, has revealed it refinanced 361 MW of onshore wind assets in Ireland for €325m in 2019.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which has a global portfolio of approximately 19,000 MW of capacity, completed the refinancing of its Irish wind portfolio last June.

The debt, including associated swaps, bears a fixed interest rate of 3.2pc and matures in December 2032.

It is understood the refinancing meant that Brookfield’s three onshore wind portfolios would be combined into one consolidated financing portfolio.

The assets in the refinanced portfolio were constructed between 2004 and 2018. It is understood the move was carried out to solidify the financing structure of the Irish assets.

It is further understood that Brookfield is set to continue to invest in its greenfield development pipeline in Ireland. It has plans to build further projects over the next number of months.

The company is also set to begin construction of its €13m Knockawarriga wind project in Co Limerick. Brookfield expects the 8 MW project to be commercially operational this year.

In 2014, Brookfield bought Bord Gáis’s 700-megawatt wind-farm portfolio, including 325 MW of operating wind capacity, for $740m.

Brookfield was part of a consortium, which also included UK power giant Centrica and Icon Infrastructure, that agreed to buy the power generation and electricity and supply assets of Bord Gáis, since renamed Ervia, for €1.12bn in late 2013.