White & Case Takes Advisor Role in Yunlin Financing

Law firm White & Case LLP has advised the export credit agencies (ECAs) and the syndicate of commercial banks on the financing of the Yunlin offshore wind project in Taiwan.

A financing group comprising 19 banks and three ECAs from Denmark (EKF), Germany (Euler Hermes) and the Netherlands (Atradius) closed the EUR 2.7 billion (NTD 94 billion) project financing in May.

The bank financing group was made of four Taiwanese banks and 15 international banks, with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation also acting as the financial adviser for the 640MW wind farm.

“This transaction demonstrates the gaining strength of the offshore wind sector in the region – a sector which is firing in Taiwan and emerging with confidence in Korea, Japan, Australia and Vietnam,” said White & Case partner Fergus Smith.

“We are currently advising clients across a pipeline of offshore wind projects in each of these jurisdictions with a combined planned capacity of more than 4.5 GW. It’s an exciting time for the renewables market in the region.”

Yunlin is 73% owned by wpd and 27% owned by a Sojitz Corp-led consortium which includes Chugoku Electric Power, Chudenko Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power, and JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation.

The 640MW project will comprise 80 Siemens Gamesa turbines of the 8MW class located 8km off the Taiwanese west coast. Project completion is scheduled for December 2021.