UKEF Signs Flagship Green Partnership

At the start of June, UK Export Finance (UKEF) launched a new partnership with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to promote the expertise of UK offshore wind companies abroad.

UKEF signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 5 June 2021 with ORE Catapult, which will help to bring global trading opportunities to UK suppliers and propel UK renewables exports.

The UK is the world’s biggest offshore wind market, with 10.4GW of total installed capacity, and the UK Government is helping UK companies export the country’s expertise to new and emerging markets.

ORE Catapult operates its National Renewable Energy Centre in the North East, which is a leading innovation centre for offshore renewable energy with expertise in accelerating offshore wind technologies and supporting clean growth. It develops new technologies to reduce the cost of offshore wind to help UK companies become more competitive.

As part of this cooperation agreement, ORE Catapult and UKEF will raise awareness of support that can be provided to assist UK businesses in the renewable energy sector. UKEF has also trained ORE Catapult employees to highlight the financial support UKEF can offer to benefit green SMEs. This training will enable ORE Catapult to raise awareness of the services UKEF offers among nearly 300 SMEs in the renewable energy sector they support.

To support the UK’s plan for a Green Industrial Revolution UKEF is heavily focused on supporting green projects and can offer them favourable repayment terms. It also has in place a £2 billion direct lending facility dedicated to financing clean growth projects and an international network of trade finance experts focused on supporting UK renewable energy businesses.

Richard Simon-Lewis, UKEF Director & Head of Business Development, Marketing & Communications, said: “There is a strong pipeline of new opportunities in the renewable energy sector as economies adopt clean energy pathways where UKEF can offer their expertise. We are uniquely placed to support the government’s ambition to grow clean energy as outlined in the recent 10 Point Plan and this agreement will help us tap into that potential on a more granular, regional basis and increase new business in cooperation with ORE Catapult.”

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