North Star Renewables secures £96m to build vessel fleet outside of UK

North Star Renewables (NSR), of Aberdeen, has announced a £96 m funding package to support its vessel-building plans.

The company – part of the North Star Shipping (NSS) group of companies – told The Press and Journal the secured loan from multinational financial services giant Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) supplemented its own balance sheet, as well as equity commitments from NSS’s 100% shareholder, Basalt Infrastructure Partners.

It will fund the build of three new service operations vessels (SOVs), which will be delivered to the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm under a contract of at least 10 years.

Once completed, Dogger Bank – about 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast – will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of powering an estimated six million UK homes. It is currently under construction by joint-venture partners Equinor, SSE Renewables, and Eni.

NSR’s contract with Dogger Bank is expected to create 130 long-term jobs in Scotland and the north-east of England during the operations phase of the wind farm.

The first of North Star’s SOVs are scheduled to arrive at Port of Tyne in Summer 2023.

NSR’s three Dogger-Bank-bound SOVs are being built by Norwegian company VARD under a £270m deal.

Read More