The last full calendar year – 2020 – of infrastructure and energy finance will for all time be remembered as the one that put the global economy to the test, and proved the resilience of this sector.

The year was marked by the unraveling impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought entire economic sectors worldwide to a near stop – transport, tourism and leisure among many others – with the infrastructure/energy industries facing their fair share of challenges. 

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With persisting insecurity about the near-term future and short-lived eases of Covid-19 restrictions, 2020 results testify to the bumpy ride global infra finance was on for the last 12 months (though data is subject to change as more comes available).

In the Q4 a number of high value deals reached financial close, as market participants reported having to go through diverse risks to take into consideration, delays and complicated coordination of multinational transactions due to the pandemic.

The top project finance deals of the October-December period spanned various sectors and geographies include:

• Area 1 Mozambique LNG (Mozambique, $22.6 billion)
• Energia Costa Azul LNG Terminal 1 (Mexico, $2.3 billion)
• 4GW Dogger Bank A and B offshore wind farms (UK, c. $10.7 billion)
• 2GW Java coal-fired portfolio (Indonesia, $3.7 billion)
• extension of Jerusalem’s light rail Green line (Israel, $3 billion)

Above all, however, 2020 saw a number of ultra-large scale renewable energy projects reach financial close, mostly in the offshore wind sector.

Favourable regulatory regimes and investor appetite for offshore wind were among the factors allowing for the completion of notable projects – Dogger Bank and the 1.14GW Seagreen bundle (both in the UK), the 600MW Changfang and Xidao duo (China), and the 500MW Fecamp wind farm (France).

The rush for renewables is also a marker for the rise of environmental consciousness. In 2020, it made its way in mainstream infrastructure financing in the form of green bonds and ESG criteria applied to both corporate and project finance.