Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised NeXtWind on the corporate and project law aspects of a €1.4bn largest-of-its-kind syndicated loan granted to it for the expansion of its wind energy portfolio in Germany, as well as related borrower due diligence. The financing agreement includes an additional €1.3bn in accordion facilities which can be activated in tranches over the coming years.
The innovative loan package consists of five tailored core components including a term loan for acquisitions and investments as well as flexible guarantee lines. This approach opens up institutional dept capital on a new scale and establishes the basis for scalable financing of infrastructure solutions in the renewable energy sector.
NeXtWind will use the financing to modernise over half of its 37 wind farms, increasing their generation capacity to over 1 GW by 2028. The company also plans to further develop these wind farms into integrated clean energy hubs. By 2028, it aims to increase its overall generation capacity to 3 GW through a combination of wind farms included in the financing and newly built (greenfield) projects among others.
Founded in 2020, NeXtWind has established itself as a leading independent player in the renewable energy sector. It acquires and optimises existing wind farms by installing new turbines alongside state-of-the-art technology. NeXtWind’s current repowering capacity stands at approximately 1.4 GW, with an expected completion date set for 2026. This enables around one million households to be supplied with green electricity every year.
The WFW Germany Corporate team that advised NeXtWind was led by Partner Wolfram Böge working with Partners Sebastian Baum, F. Maximilian Boemke, Christian Schindler and Britta Wißmann. They were supported by Counsel Tatjana Giutronich; Managing Associates Julia von der Blumensaat, Julien Lamott and Muteber Yalcin; Senior Associate Marian Henkes; and Associates Ruwen Fritsche, Julian Kasper, Philipp Kleiner, Josephina Knauf, Albert Merck, Stefan Riedmeyer, Andreas Urdl, Philipp Vogl, Wiebke Westermann, Leonard Wolckenhaar and Felix Wörner. London Finance Partner Rob McBride and Associate Kristina Buckberry advised on English law hedging matters.
Wolfram commented: “We are delighted to have advised NeXtWind on this strategic financing which will play a key role in enabling the distribution of renewable energy in a grid-friendly manner and contribute towards Germany’s energy transition. This matter highlights WFW’s depth of knowledge and resource and our expertise in advising on big-ticket transactions in the energy space”.
