WINDANKER OFFSHORE WIND FARM (EIB-20240378)

Countries
  • Germany
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
German Baltic Sea - coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • European Investment Bank (EIB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Oct 30, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
COMPANIA ESPANOLA DE SEGUROS DE CREDITO A LA EXPORTACION SA; IBERDROLA SA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 578.62 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 500
Converted using 2025-10-30 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1,341.25 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 1159
Converted using 2025-10-30 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Dec 17, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 24, 2025


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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project will finance an offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea with an installed capacity of 315 MW.

The Project consists of the development, construction and operation of a 315MW fixed-bottom offshore windfarm in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Baltic Sea. It will be located 38 km to the north of the closest coast of Rügen island, and some 100 kilometres from the transition point between the submarine and land cable in the Vierow port area near Lubmin. The Promoter has chosen a turbine type with a unit capacity of up to 15 MW and the wind farm will entail 21 turbines. Electrical equipment such as internal array cabling and civil works (foundations, access) are part of the Project scope. The total Project area is c. 25km2. Offshore works will start in Q3 2025 (installation of foundations and transition pieces). The turbines will be installed in Q3 2026 and the Project is expected to be completed by Q4 2026.

The grid connection infrastructure entails the following components: (i) c.24km of offshore cable and transformer, (ii) 78km offshore cable under territorial waters and landfall, (iii) onshore 4.3km underground cable, a new electricity substation (220kV/380kV) and 400m of overhead line connection to the transmission grid. Each of the three components is permitted separately (not by the Promoter of the Project, and under separate administrative procedures). The offshore route of the export cable until territorial waters is permitted under the BSH (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie) whilst the territorial waters part, the onshore underground cable, the new substation and the overhead line is permitted by the Ministry (Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Tourismus und Arbeit Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). The offshore cable (100km/220kV) transports the electricity generated in the wind farm from the EEZ through the coastal waters and the Greifswalder bay to the landing point in the port area around Vierow. The aforementioned grid connection infrastructure (i.e. export cable and on shore infrastructure), does not form part of the Project scope to be financed by the EIB.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

According to the Environmental and Social Data Sheet, the onshore and offshore parts of the grid connection infrastructure (onshore: 5km underground cable, new substation, and offshore part of the cable), do not fall under neither of the annexes of the EIA Directive. Under the UVPG these components are not subject to an EIA. However, the developer of the grid connection project has submitted relevant environmental reports. The final approval has been issued for all grid connection infrastructure components. Based on the approval documentation, the aforementioned grid connection components are not expected to entail significant environmental impacts on the environment.

The environmental studies have assessed potential impacts by the Project on the sea floor (sediment), water quality, fish populations, marine mammals and benthos organisms. Similarly, residual impacts on human environment and landscape caused by visual obstruction were assessed. It was concluded that there are no significant impacts in all phases of the Project.

In the construction phase, during the work foundations, underwater noise will be generated. Its greatest intensity will be related to driving large diameter monopiles into the seabed. Taking into account that underwater noise generated may cause significant negative impact on marine organisms (here especially on marine mammals), a noise reduction system will be implemented during the execution of the works.

Additionally, there were surveys related to the quantity and birds species identified in the Project area at different times of the year. Collision risk, disruption to flight paths, and direct or indirect habitat loss were analysed in addition to cumulative impacts (in combination with other projects in the area). The studies concluded that the Project will not lead to significant impacts.

The EIA report also assessed potential significant impacts on marine protected areas in the vicinity. The Project area is located outside Natura 2000 areas. In the vicinity of the Project there are the SCIs "Westliche Rönnebank", at a distance of about 8.3 km, as well as the "Adlergrund" at 12.8km and the EU bird sanctuary "Pomeranian Bay" at about 12.8 km. The EIA report concluded that the integrity of protected sites will not be significantly impacted by the Project.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Cesce (acronym for Compañía Española de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación) is a trade risk management company operating in nine countries. It is the fourth largest group worldwide and the second largest in Spain in the credit and surety sector.

As stated by Bloomberg, Iberdrola Sociedad Anonima generates, distributes, trades, and markets electricity in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The Company specializes in clean energy including wind power, solar and hydroelectric, smart grids, energy storage, and green hydrogen.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Compañía Española de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación (CESCE) Client -
- - - - Iberdrola SA Client -

Contact Information
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No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

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