Norton Rose Fulbright advises lenders on €2 billion project financing for Ocean Winds Baltic Sea offshore wind farm in Poland

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a syndicate of lenders on the around €2 billion financing for Ocean Winds' offshore wind farm, the BC-Wind project, located in the Baltic Sea, Poland.

Ocean Winds, a 50:50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, is an international company dedicated to offshore wind energy.

The financing for the BC-Wind project is supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is contributing to close to one third of the entire project finance, the ICO (Instituto de Crédito Oficial Español) and 13 commercial banks, reflecting the maturity and long-term stability of the investment.

The financing will take the project, currently at the development stage, through to the construction stage. BC Wind is expected to deliver its first power in 2028 and, once fully operational, it will provide zero-emission electricity to nearly 500,000 households in Poland per year.

Norton Rose Fulbright advised the EIB and the group of 13 local and international banks on the financing, navigating a highly complex, multi-jurisdictional structure.

This transaction represents one of the most significant project financings in the Polish renewables sector to date.

The combined projects and project finance team at Norton Rose Fulbright was co-led by Global Co-Head of Energy and partner Rob Marsh in London and partner Tomasz Rogalski in Warsaw. They were supported by senior associate Christopher Aird, associates Sophie Lawrence and Isabel Neville and trainee Anna Radford in London as well as Warsaw-based team including counsels Cezary Zawiślak, Krzysztof Gorzelak and Krzysztof Jasiński, senior associates Igor Kondratowicz-Laderski and Sara Radzicka-Tolwaj, associates Julia Pycka, Daniel Książek, Bartosz Odziemkowski, Karolina Lepakiewicz, Karolina Majcher, Jakub Wiatrzyk, Martyna Orłowska Mateusz Czuba, Aleksandra Szostak, Izabela Kręgiel, trainees Dominika Wojtkowska and Wiktoria Jadczak as well as lawyers Kacper Wojtacha, Antoni Krzyzanowski, Natalia Rybak, Mikołaj Rydzewski and Filip Krasuski.

London-based partner Jessica Melville, supported by associate Emily Allison, advised EIB, while partner Kirstin Russell supported Wilmington Trust as the agent.

Rob Marsh commented:

"Ocean Winds reaching financial close on its BC-Wind project is another significant milestone for the future of renewable energy in Poland. This achievement demonstrates the strong confidence of international lenders in offshore wind and paves the way for delivering clean, zero-emission electricity to hundreds of thousands of households."

Tomasz Rogalski commented:

"Financing construction of the BC-Wind offshore wind farm in Poland was a highly complex, multi-jurisdictional financing that required close coordination between international and local lenders. We're proud to have contributed to delivering a structure that supports the long-term development of the offshore wind in Poland and strengthens the country's position as a leading renewables market in Europe."

Norton Rose Fulbright's projects practice is one of the largest in the world, with over 350 project and project finance lawyers. Over the past five years, the firm has closed 600 significant project finance transactions globally, totalling over US$286 billion. (IJGlobal Q1, 2025).