Article
Wood enhances UK centres of excellence
Wood, a global leader in consulting and engineering, has played a key role in securing more than €1 billion of funding for its clients in Europe, enabling three major clean energy projects to reach final investment decisions (FID).
In Lithuania, Wood’s team of technical consultants served as Lenders’ Technical Advisors in advancing the nation’s largest onshore wind farm. Wood’s consultants guided the developer Nord/LB, alongside its banking partners KfW IPEX-Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), throughout the pre-finance period.
Set for completion in 2026, this 264-megawatt (MW) plant will power over 270,000 households, slashing carbon emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes per year. Wood continues to lead on project management for the wind farm as construction begins.
Wood’s expertise was also key in facilitating European renewables developer, Renewable Power Capital (RPC), in finalising financing for its 553 MW onshore wind portfolio in Sweden. Made up of four wind farms, the project is set to significantly reduce emissions produced by the country's industrial sector. Wood acted as technical advisor to support initial investment into the portfolio followed by further due diligence to enable project financing. Wood will continue to support the project, providing its expert guidance and supervision throughout the construction phase.
Beyond this, Wood is also acting as owner's engineer for the Catalina green hydrogen project, a first-of-its-kind project in Spain, which was recently announced as a recipient of the European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction, receiving €230 million in funding. The project will combine 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar energy to power a 500-MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen.
Azad Hessamodini, Executive President for Consulting at Wood said, “To profoundly transform and accelerate the diversification of the world’s energy mix, significant capital investment is required. Our consultants and technical advisors are skilled at supporting our clients in assessing the critical factors, such as technical and commercial feasibility including market returns, that enable them to reach final investment decisions, and I’m proud of the impact we’re making.”
Europe is paving the way for the advancement of renewable energy projects with a total offshore wind capacity of 25 GW across the EU. Having worked on over 70% of these projects, Wood is sitting at the forefront of advancing the region’s clean energy agenda.