Boralex Completes $805 Mn Refinancing for 230 MW Wind Farm in Canada

Boralex has completed the USD 805 million refinancing over 16 years for its 230 MW Niagara Region Wind Farm in Ontario, Canada.

Boralex Inc has announced that it has completed the approximately USD 805 million refinancing over 16 years for its 230 MW Niagara Region Wind Farm (NRWF) in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. NRWF was commissioned on November 2, 2016, and is held in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River Indigenous community. Boralex operates the site and has a 50 percent stake in the farm.

“This is our third major refinancing in less than a year, which shows the confidence our financial partners have in Boralex and the execution of our strategic plan,” said Patrick Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex. “These refinancings, totalling USD 2.7 billion, were arranged at very good conditions and have greatly improved our financial flexibility, reducing its corporate credit facility by over USD 260 million and generating total annual recurring savings of USD 22 million. The NRWF refinancing will also improve the overall performance of this asset, benefiting both Boralex and our partner the Six Nations of the Grand River.

Taking advantage of the very good market conditions, the firm successfully reduced the borrowing rate for NRWF and also freed up approximately USD 65 million to USD 70 million, which will be used to reduce its corporate credit facility. The combined impact of the lower borrowing rate and related expenses, plus the lower interest expense on the corporate credit facility will result in annual recurring savings of more than USD 5 million in interest expense.

The firm and the project was supported in this transaction by a group of seven banks. They are, in order of their respective participations in the total refinancing amount: KFW-Ipex Bank, CaixaBank, Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Associated Bank and Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC).

Boralex develops, builds and operates renewable energy power facilities in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. With an installed capacity of 2,040 MW, the firm is a leader in the Canadian market and France’s largest independent producer of onshore wind power.