The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has decided to provide a €70 million loan for the construction of a wind power plant (WPP) in the Odessa region with a capacity of 120 MW and a total cost of €231 million.
"IFC is providing support for the project at the pre-investment stage in order to increase its financial attractiveness, especially in terms of electricity market analysis and power purchase agreements," the corporation said on its website.
The project is expected to receive support from partners of the Ukraine Economic Resilience Action Program ("ERA Program"), including the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the Government of the French Republic, and the European Commission under the Ukraine Investment Framework (EC-UIF), as stated in the "blended finance" section.
According to IFC, the project is being implemented by a specialized company registered in Ukraine.
At the same time, according to IFC, the project is mostly owned by the German company Notus Energy GmbH, which controls more than 1.6 GW of wind energy capacity worldwide. The project’s ownership structure also includes minority shareholders in the form of a private investment company operating in Ukraine and Moldova, Horizon Capital, through its recently created Catalyst Fund, and the Green for Growth Fund.
As explained by IFC, the additional benefits of its participation in the project are both financial and non-financial in nature. In particular, the financial value comes from the financing structure, as IFC provides a loan with a maturity of up to 17 years. IFC will also help attract additional financing for the project.
"IFC is providing pre-investment support for the project to improve its bankability, particularly in relation to electricity market analysis and offtake arrangements," the corporation noted.
IFC also provides technical assistance to help improve the project’s financial attractiveness, especially in terms of market analysis and power purchase agreements.
Horizon Capital manages six private equity funds (with more than 40 institutional investors) with assets of $1.6 billion, including WNISEF ($150 million), Emerging Europe Growth Fund (EEGF, $132 million), EEGF II ($370 million), EEGF III ($200 million), HCGF II ($258.3 million), and HCGF IV ($350 million). The funds have been invested in 191 companies employing more than 80,000 people in Ukraine and Moldova.
