Gaelectric has concluded over €90m in additional financing for its business with BlueBay Ireland Corporate Credit, Nord/LB and Proventus Capital Partners.
The company will receive €30m in business development and expansion funding from BlueBay, a vehicle established by BlueBay Asset Management that will used to support growth of all aspects of its business.
The company will secure €56m project debt facility to finance the construction of its 42MW wind farm at Dunbeg, Co. Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland from Nord/LB, while Proventus Capital Partners has increased its existing portfolio finance facility by €6m.
Having secured grid connection and full planning approval, the Dunbeg wind power project has started site preparation works early this year and commercial operation is set to begin by August 2014.
Nord/LB has also participated in the funding round concluded by Gaelectric earlier this year.
Gaelectric CEO Brendan McGrath said that the additional funding will allow the company to maintain the momentum it has created through next year and focus on its project milestones which ultimately create the value for its partners and investors.
"The €30 million in funding from BlueBay Ireland Corporate Credit also demonstrates how Government commercial investment, combined with market funding and expert lending, can be very effective in supporting Irish business.
"To illustrate this, the BICC funding, when taken together with the other funding we have raised, has allowed us to increase the number of people employed by Gaelectric in Ireland on a full time basis by in excess of 20% during 2013 with a number of additional positions being filled at the present time.
"This is a significant institutional investment in our business and it is satisfying that it is a National Pensions Reserve Fund-backed fund investing in an Irish renewable energy company.
"Our BICC facility provides us with both the funding and the flexibility to apply it where it can be put to best use in the business," added McGrath.
