Iberdrola’s € 2 Bn green bond to fund Saint Brieuc, Baltic Eagle OWFs

Iberdrola has launched a green hybrid bond amounting to EUR 2 billion and will use the raised funds to finance and refinance the Saint-Brieuc and Baltic Eagle offshore wind farms in France and Germany, respectively.

The company said that this was the largest green hybrid bond issue in its history and that, in just one month, it reached the target set when it presented its strategic plan last November, committing to issuing hybrid operations in 2021 amounting to EUR 2 billion.

“With this transaction, for which demand exceeded 10 billion euros, the company’s live green financing volume is in excess of 15 billion euros and Iberdrola has consolidated its position as the world’s largest green bond issuing group”, the company said.

The demand recorded, resulting in more than five times the initial offer, demonstrates the market’s huge interest, which was made possible by the participation of more than 380 qualified investors, from many nationalities, Iberdrola said.

The placement has been carried out by Citi, BBVA, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Santander, Natixis and Natwest, among others.

The funds raised will be used for the 496 MW Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm in France and the 476 MW Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in Germany, which are part of Iberdrola’s EUR 75 billion investment plan for the period 2020-2025.

The Saint-Brieuc project is located in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, 16.3 kilometers from the Breton coast. The offshore wind farm will comprise 62 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, with commissioning planned for 2023.

Located 30 kilometres off the coast of the Rügen island, the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm will comprise 52 MHI Vestas 9.5 MW turbines, expected to be commissioned in 2023.