[DigitalToday reporter Ji-young Lee] KB Financial Group said on Wednesday it has successfully completed the financial arrangement for the Sinan Ui offshore wind power project, selected as the first investment by the public-private National Growth Fund. The total project cost is 3.4 trillion won, and KB Kookmin Bank and Korea Development Bank participated as joint lead financial arrangers.

The Sinan Ui offshore wind power project is a plan to build a large 390 megawatt offshore wind farm near the waters off Uido-ri, Docho-myeon, Sinan County, South Jeolla Province. It consists of 26 offshore wind turbines with a 15 megawatt capacity each, exceeding the 270 megawatts of maximum power of the largest data center currently operating in South Korea. As a renewable energy project, it is expanding essential power infrastructure for advanced strategic industries in the region, including the national AI computing center.

The project is the first mega-project to receive funding from the 15,000 trillion won National Growth Fund set up to drive South Korea's economic rebound.

The National Growth Fund's fund management deliberation committee announced 7 first-round mega-projects in December last year that could have significant spillover effects on advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors and AI and the development of their ecosystems, and contribute to regional growth. The National Growth Fund (Advanced Strategic Industry Fund) will participate in the project through senior and subordinated loans totaling 750 billion won.

The project is also designed with a structure in which all additional profits from resident participation are shared with local residents, dubbed "wind income", contributing to expanding residents' income base. Local residents investing in the power project will receive a portion of revenue from renewable energy supply certificates issued by the Korea Energy Agency, paid in ways that help revitalize the local economy, such as vouchers and local currency.

KB Kookmin Bank and Korea Development Bank participated as joint lead financial arrangers and arranged 2.89 trillion won in senior and subordinated loans for the project. It completed the arrangement successfully in just 1 month after receiving the project's financing request, surpassing the fundraising target by 2.85 times.

A KB Financial official said, "As a leader in domestic investment banking, KB Financial is actively carrying out a major shift to productive finance, not limited to infrastructure finance, including supplying venture capital and investing in small and midsize companies." The official added, "We will continue to faithfully carry out finance's fundamental role of increasing added value across a variety of areas."