NeXtWind, a leading renewable energy company, has secured €1.4 billion in debt financing, along with an additional €1.3 billion in accordion facilities that can be accessed in tranches over the coming years. This syndicated loan is the largest for an independent wind energy provider in Germany, allowing major financial institutions, both domestic and international, to invest in the onshore wind market.
NeXtWind’s growth strategy aims to increase its total capacity to 3 GW by 2028, combining financed wind farms and new projects. This unique financing model bundles multiple projects, improving efficiency and creating attractive investment opportunities for a broader range of investors. The €1.4 billion package includes various components to meet the financial needs of repowering, paving the way for scalable financing in the renewable energy sector.
How the funding will be used: The company plans to utilize this financing to modernize over half of its wind farms, increasing their generation capacity to more than 1 GW by 2028 and developing them into sustainable energy infrastructure hubs. Founded in 2020, NeXtWind focuses on acquiring and optimizing existing wind farms through a process known as repowering, which currently has a capacity of about 1.4 GW. This will supply around one million households with green electricity annually.
Advisors/support: Lazard structured the financing and accompanied the entire process as the exclusive financial advisor to NeXtWind. Deutsche Bank, ING Bank and LBBW act as underwriters, mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners on the transaction. Deutsche Bank also serves as Global Coordinator, while ING Bank further supports as Green Loan Coordinator, Facility and Security Agent. Renowned insurance companies have also joined the transaction upon closing of the loan agreement to provide part of the guarantee line.
KEY QUOTES:
“This financing is a significant milestone for NeXtWind and testament to the confidence in our business model. Thanks to this novel platform approach, we can optimize our wind farms more quickly and accelerate our growth. In the long term, we aim to transform them into state-of-the-art, integrated hubs that can generate, store and distribute energy from various renewable sources in a grid-friendly manner at the right time – all in one place.”
Lars B. Meyer, Co-CEO of NeXtWind
