A first of its kind £430m green transition loan has been backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF) to help engineering and consultancy firm Wood continue to transition to clean energy, hydrogen and decarbonisation.

The commercial loan will be supported by an 80 per cent UKEF Transition Export Development Guarantee (Transition EDG) and will give Wood the financial resources to enhance its clean growth plans by accelerating the speed at which Wood can grow its business by investing in future low carbon growth areas linked to the energy transition in the UK and abroad and provide critical working capital for deployment in clean growth projects around the world.

Under the agreement, Wood will commit to increasing its clean growth portfolio and significantly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions over the five-year tenure of the facility. The facility was co-ordinated jointly by Citi and BNP Paribas with Citi acting as Facility Agent while Rothschild & Co acted as advisers to Wood. The mandated lead arrangers were ABN Amro Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC UK Bank, Lloyds Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, said: “Green trade presents a major economic opportunity for Britain that will drive high-value jobs in every part of the nation. Wood has already made great strides in repositioning its business for a low-carbon future. I am delighted it is the first company to energise its clean growth plans using UKEF’s new Transition Export Development Guarantee, which will support thousands of green jobs.”

UKEF’s Transition EDG was launched ahead of COP26 to enable UK exporting companies to access the financial resources they need to transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy alternatives.

Share Story: