Project
Each wind farm will have a capacity of 1.2GW. Together with the planned Dogger Bank C wind farm, these three wind farms will have a capacity of 3.6GW in total, collectively making them the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
A key source of revenue for the first 15 years of operations are derived from contract for differences (CfDS), which have been awarded to Dogger Bank A at a strike price of £39.65/MWh and Dogger Bank B £41.61/MWh. Both prices are CPI-linked with a base year of 2012.
The Dogger Bank wind farms are being developed by a partnership between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni, with corresponding interests of 40%, 40% and 20%.
The senior debt facilities across Dogger Bank A and B total £4.8bn and are supported by £0.7bn of ancillary facilities. The final group of lenders includes 29 banks and three export credit agencies.
Operis Role
SSE and Equinor approached Operis to undertake an audit of the financial models that had been prepared to aid in the raising of senior debt finance for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B.
Robust audit processes and responsive team
The nature of the transaction meant that there were ambitious timetables to be met, and Operis provided an expedited model audit process, enabling sign off to be achieved within a tight timeframe as smoothly as possible.
Both wind farms had their own financial model, which follows a similar structure. Operis’ flexible model audit process allowed it to complete the review of both financial models much more efficiently than would typically be the case for two separate model audits.
Despite the pressing timetable, Operis’s flexible audit process allowed additional analyst time to be dedicated to this assignment and meet the short deadline, ensuring that lender approvals could be obtained in advance of the acquisition date.
Operis was able to allocate additional resources to meet the client’s tight deadline. The team flexibility and expertise were instrumental in expediting the process and successfully providing the client with the necessary model audit assurance to secure lending.
