Absa wins African Wind Deal of the Year

The corporate and investment banking division of Absa Bank Limited, member of Barclays, was yesterday awarded Euromoney magazine’s Project Finance Award, for the African Wind Deal of the Year, for financing the Dorper Wind Farm project.

The Dorper Wind Farm is an onshore wind farm in the Eastern Cape. The project will erect 40 Nordex N100 2.5 MW wind turbines resulting in 100MW of electricity generation capacity. It is part of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

“We are proud to be pioneering the winds of change in South Africa’s renewable energy landscape,” says Stephen van Coller, Chief Executive of Absa’s corporate and investment banking division. “This international accolade recognises Absa’s role as a leading financier of large scale renewable energy projects.”

Absa was appointed as a mandated lead arranger on the transaction, alongside other financiers. Together with Barclays, Absa was able to assist Dorper in arranging South Africa’s first renewable energy deal financed on an export credit backed basis. Maintaining the sustainability theme Absa was also able to assist the Dorper project with global risk management and ongoing project finance expertise.

The Project Finance Awards, launched 14 years ago, recognise innovation, deal repeatability, best practice, problem solving, risk mitigation, value for money and speed of delivery in the financing of infrastructure projects, large or small. It covers a range of sectors, including oil & gas, power, renewable energy, transport and public-private-partnership.