Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope) monitors and reviews its credit ratings on an ongoing basis and at least annually, or every six months in the case of sovereigns, sub-sovereigns and supranational organisations.

Scope performs monitoring reviews to determine whether material changes and/or changes in macroeconomic or financial market conditions could have an impact on the credit ratings. Scope considers all available and relevant information when undertaking the monitoring review.

Monitoring reviews are conducted by performing a peer comparison, benchmarking against the rating-change drivers, and/or reviewing the credit ratings’ performance over time, as deemed appropriate by the Lead Analyst or Analytical Team Head, in addition to an assessment of all aspects of the relevant methodologies, including key rating assumptions and model. Scope publicly announces the completion of each monitoring review on its website.

Scope completed the monitoring review for Blauracke GmbH on 28 October 2024 for the A- rating on the senior notes with a total initial amount of EUR 510.6m (EUR 335.9m outstanding), maturing in April 2032.

This monitoring note does not constitute a credit rating action, nor does it indicate the likelihood that Scope will conduct a credit rating action in the short term. Information about the latest credit rating action connected with this monitoring note along with the associated rating history can be found on www.scoperatings.com.

Key rating factors

The A- rating reflects a total expected loss (EL) of 0.19% over the life of the loan to maturity (equivalent to a 4.03-year constant-exposure expected risk horizon). We have calculated an expected impairment likelihood of 0.88% for the project (rated instrument), which corresponds to a PD strength of bbb+ when expressed using the levels of Scope’s idealised PD curves. The total (average) expected recovery rate on the project’s credit impairment events is 78.05%. The rating is underpinned by the (i) project’s stable revenues, with no price risk over the tenor of the debt, (ii) robust coverage ratios and strong cash flow sensitivities, (iii) refinancing risk sufficiently mitigated by a reserve mechanism, (iv) experienced operators and a good operating track record to date, and (v) the financing of a minority interest with a relatively weak security package compared to typical project finance structures.

The technical performance of the underlying projects has continued to be satisfactory over the last twelve months reported (H2 2023 and H1 2024). Turbine availability has remained above the rating case assumptions, and overall park availability has been robust for both projects. Production including curtailment -which is effectively fully compensated- and therefore revenue was above the rating case assumptions on average, partly due to the strong wind conditions in H1 2024. The 12-month backward-looking DSCR was robust at 1.98x at the end of April 2024 based on 49% of cashflows (for reference only, 2.55x based on 75% of cashflows). The updated rating case results in robust coverage ratios (minimum and average adjusted DSCRs of 1.95x/2.13x respectively; note that this differs from the CTA definition), which remain consistent with our assessment of the financial strength risk area.

The methodologies applicable for the reviewed rating (General Project Finance Rating Methodology, 16 November 2023; Counterparty Risk Methodology, 10 July 2024) are available on https://scoperatings.com/governance-and-policies/rating-governance/methodologies.
This monitoring note is issued by Scope Ratings GmbH, Lennéstraße 5, D-10785 Berlin, Tel +49 30 27891-0.
Lead analyst Marton Zempleni, Senior Representative

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