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EDF, Enbridge seal financing for France's 1st offshore wind park

French state-controlled utility Electricité de France SA reached financial close on the country's first offshore wind farm, the 480-MW Saint-Nazaire project, together with its Canadian partner Enbridge Inc.

About €2 billion will be invested in the project, EDF Renewables said. BNP Paribas SA, MUFG Bank Ltd. and Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking provided third-party debt financing.

EDF Renewables did not offer further details on the financing, but Enbridge CEO Al Monaco told analysts Aug. 2 that the company would invest C$300 million of its own equity into the project.

Construction of Saint-Nazaire has not started, but commissioning is slated for 2022.

Awarded to EDF in a tender in 2012, the 80-turbine project has encountered a series of permitting issues since then. It was challenged in front of France's Conseil d'Etat, the country's supreme administrative court, and was finally granted its operating permit in June.

The construction contract for the project was awarded to Belgian marine contractor Dredging Environmental & Marine Engineering NV, or DEME, and French fabricator Eiffage SA. Eiffage will make 80 foundations starting in spring 2020, with the depth of the foundations set to range from 12 meters to 25 meters. DEME will begin installing these foundations in spring 2021.

EDF and Enbridge, through their joint venture Eolien Maritime France SAS, are also developing a further 948 MW of offshore wind capacity in France from 2012's tender round: the Fécamp and Calvados projects off the country's northern coast.