Acting as co-mandated lead arrangers and co-lenders, EDC and NatWest together provided £130 million to support the construction of the Limekiln wind farm, owned by Quebec-based energy producer Boralex.

With the capacity to produce enough low carbon power to meet 40,200 homes’ needs, at a saving of 65,000 tonnes of emissions, the project is Boralex’s largest scheme in Europe and its first project financing in Britain.

Advising the two lenders on the deal, Burges Salmon provided banking, finance, energy, real estate, planning and construction expertise. The team was led by partners Stuart McMillan, Lloyd James, Alex Whiter and Euan Bremner, supported by directors Alistair Rattray and Laura Sharples, senior associates Alison Logan and Owen Watkins, associates Amy McPherson and Kirsten Ogg, solicitors Thomas Papke and Chris Glendinning and trainee solicitors Gemma Hines and Carys Cox.

Stuart McMillan, pictured, commented: “It has been a pleasure working with NatWest and EDC to unlock this significant capital for Boralex’s flagship project in the UK, one that will greatly benefit local communities, providing zero-carbon electricity and delivering an array of social, economic, and environmental benefits. In what was a complex deal, our experience advising on these types of financing transactions in the renewables sector meant we were able to work together with all parties, and across multiple jurisdictions, to bring this landmark project to fruition.”

Kristofer Gibson, a NatWest director for infrastructure project finance, said: “We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to support Boralex with its maiden financing and development in the UK market. The debt facility is another example of NatWest’s commitment to actively help building a greener economy and future by providing £100 billion Climate and Sustainable Funding and Financing to our customers by the end of 2025.”

Combining sector knowledge with banking and finance expertise, Burges Salmon provides tailored advice from a range of perspectives to support lenders and borrowers on complex financing transactions in the UK and internationally. Working across sectors, the firm acts for some of the world’s largest banks, building societies and over 50 financial institutions, alongside numerous PLCs and large corporate clients globally.

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The legal ginger group says its action last year secured a concession from ministers that they had lifted David Cameron’s de facto ban on new onshore wind parks.  But ministers are still dragging their feet, the GLP alleges, over approving turbines in fields, Britain’s cheapest power source.

GLP cites the view of Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson, who this month told Parliament’s energy select committee that England remains a ‘godforsaken country’ for onshore wind.

Decrying to MPs what he called England’s “cumbersome, slow, difficult and uncertain” regime for approving land-based turbines, Anderson called for major changes by ministers to national planning guidelines.

Also seeking restoration of terrestrial turbines is top planning body the National Infrastructure Commission. Last April, as cited by the GLP, the commission specified that land-based turbines in England should brought back into line with existing approved energy sources, ready to be fast-tracked through the planning process.

The GLP want to know why ministers made no mention of onshore wind when recently revising the National Policy Statement.

Its legal director Emma Dearnaley claimed the government has been “stubbornly refusing” to back onshore wind.

“Instead,” Dearnaley said, “in the middle of a climate crisis, ministers are focusing their efforts on keeping the fossil fuel industry thriving for decades to come.”

New onshore wind approvals in England plummeted after 2016, after the Cameron government singled out turbines to lose their status as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects under the regime’s energy provisions.

Developers complain that England in 2023 erected fewer turbines than Ukraine, emeshed in fighting off Russia’s invasion.

Advised by law firm Leigh Day, the GLP campaigners sent D-ESNZ a ‘pre-action protocol letter’ requiring energy secretary Claire Coutinho’s reply this week.  They await her response.

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