US Wind and Natixis Go Exclusive Offshore Maryland

US Wind Inc. has appointed Natixis Securities Americas LLC as the sole and exclusive financial advisor for its 268.8MW Maryland offshore wind project.

The project involves a total investment of USD 1.6 billion, US Wind, a subsidiary of Toto Holdings SpA, said. It is located 17 miles offshore of Ocean City, Maryland and is expected to be operational in 2021. Plans call for installing 32 turbines and an offshore substation in 20-30 meters of water, US Wind said.

Emmanuel Gillet-Lagarde, Global Head of Infrastructure Finance, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking said: “As a pioneer in offshore wind financing, Natixis has acted in a lead capacity in 13 offshore projects representing over 5.6 GW of capacity across Europe. We intend to expand our leadership role in this global sector by working together with Toto Holdings to support the development of offshore wind in the United States by bringing this landmark transaction into what we see as a strong growth market.”

Toto Holdings and Natixis have previously cooperated on the financing for the first offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean, the 30MW project off Taranto, Italy.

Riccardo Toto, US Wind President, said: “In determining the best financial advisory partner for US Wind to help us realize what will become the largest commercial offshore wind energy project in the United States, we believe that Natixis has not only the essential expertise but the strong track that will support our efforts to bring this first phase of our project to fruition and within the timeframe and budget parameters to which we’ve committed.”