Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc said on Thursday it agreed a £430 million loan with UK Export Finance, the export credit agency of the UK government, that it said “will enable the company to capitalise on opportunities emerging as the energy transition gathers further pace.”

Wood said it is the first company to access the Transition Export Development Guarantee (TEDG), a new facility set up to support UK exporting companies with working capital to invest in low-carbon growth markets including renewables, hydrogen and decarbonisation.

The TEDG is a five-year term loan, effective from July 2021, from a group of six of Wood’s relationship banks — ABN Amro Bank plc, BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC UK Bank plc, Lloyds Bank plc and Royal Bank of Scotland — that is 80% guaranteed by UKEF. 

Wood employs 40,000 people in 60 countries.

“The facility is competitively priced and extends the maturity of Wood’s facilities to allow long term investment in the growth of its business,” said Wood.

“The facility includes KPIs linked to growing export revenue related to energy transition and sustainable infrastructure, reductions in scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions and financial covenants in line with Wood’s existing facilities.”

Wood chief financial officer David Kemp said: “The UK government’s decision to select Wood as a debut issuer for this new facility is a strong endorsement of our energy transition strategy.

“The loan will provide a source of working capital to invest in unlocking the many low-carbon growth opportunities we can see across our business.”

Separately, Wood said that in July 2021 it repaid bilateral term loans of $300 million with a maturity date of May 2022.