We want to talk about the, obviously, the increased demand for larger scope projects and from new regions. One of the benefits of this this deal is that we we had very little overlap between the two companies, meaning that we are forming a true global player. And really, also, the different strengths of the companies are coming out in the combination. Also, a strong project pipeline that we together are forming, but also with further available days, is something we see as a very strong upside, especially in a market where there are still some degree of challenges on projects and where our clients might need support also both on a long-term basis, but also on an ad hoc basis. And this is something we as a company will be able to support with.
Also, improving Cadeler's ability to meet the increased customer demand for larger scopes and project sizes on a global basis, but really also solving the whole supply certainty equation for the clients. From our discussions with the clients at the moment, who all have supported the deal and also said that it's a meaningful combination in the industry, and something that the industry certainly needs. We think that that is also one of the key focus areas for the clients, that we are able to better solve the whole supply equation for them and also the certainty of supply. Further to that, really having scale, and a bigger fleet that is also complementary in many different ways. Obviously, also, significant annual synergies.
We have talked a lot about them, coming from three different areas, and I'm pleased to say that we are already starting to harvest some of those synergies, in the early stage of the, of the combination of the companies. Yeah. Also, obviously, the, the further free float, the more investor attention that we think that the deal will, will create, and also the stronger anticipated credit profile of the combined company. As I said already, forming this company that will be present on a global scale, that has been important for us.
We are focusing on this because we do, we do see that our key clients are moving to the new markets in the world, and we want to ensure that they get the same service as they have been used to in other markets that are more developed. That is one of the key focus areas for the combined company. In terms of the post-merger integration, we are already in the planning stage of the integration of the companies, obviously respecting all the rules and regulations that are surrounding this.
But just to give you a view of what we are doing, we are looking at several work streams between the companies, where both companies will work on certain work streams, and we will then combine those work streams to find out the prioritization of those work streams. Also, to ensure that we, from day zero, are ready to operate, and to ensure that our clients still get the same service as they were used to in the individual companies, but also then with the mid and the long-term integration plan, to ensure that we do become one company, one team, and one strong partner for our clients going forward. We have also completed two very, very significant wind farm projects in the first half of the year.
The first one being Seagreen wind farm in Scotland, where we installed 114 10-MW Vestas turbines. And one of those was installed as the deepest bottom-fixed offshore wind turbine in the world at 59m water depth. I think it's important to say also that we talked with our investors early in the process of being a listed company, that with these T&I contracts, we are also in a dynamic situation with the client, meaning that if projects need different services from us, then we are also able to harvest more revenues from these contracts. And on Seagreen, we lifted the revenue on the contract as such, with 50%, around about 50%.
On Hollandse Kust Zuid, which was the largest single offshore wind farm and service ever, with 1.5 GW, we completed that as well, 139 11-MW Siemens Gamesa turbines. We completed it, and on both projects, Cadeler went above our contractual obligations in terms of our performance. On the HKZ wind farm, we were able to add an additional 13% revenue to the original contract based on these extra services that the client needed from Cadeler. In terms of the new build that we have under—the new builds that we have under construction, I'm very, very pleased to say that we are following the plan that we have laid out. We are following the budget, and we are delivering as per the expectation at the moment on both X-one and X-two.
That is really pleasing to see. I would say that the joint cooperation we have with all the suppliers supplying to these vessels, but also with COSCO shipyards in Qidong, everything works very well, and the collaboration is very, very strong between us. Also, I'm pleased to say that we have confirmed that we will start the first F-class construction ahead of schedule, which is important for us because obviously this vessel is coming on an important contract directly after delivery. We also have a very, very high focus on safety, and I'm also very pleased to say that we have delivered more than 3 million Lost Time Incident-free man-hours on X-one and X-two so far.
Showing you a few pictures from the shipyard, where you can see that the double bottom is being assembled in the dry dock, and of course, starting to see the Cadeler colors on the hull out there in China has been great for us as a team and is very, very motivating, and we are looking forward to take delivery. The picture is also from the keel laying ceremony of X-one, where you see both the COSCO team, our team, and other suppliers being present for this big milestone for us as a company. We also have other very important CapEx projects in the planning, and one of them is the O-class crane project, which will start already this year.
So we are very, very close to start the actual execution of the O-class crane project, and I'm very pleased to say that we are having a fully operational team now. The whole site team is in place, and we have moved now from drawings and from talking about it to also rehearsing the concept. You see a picture on the right side where with cardboard models we were together with all the suppliers, finding out how will the key site logistics be handled in the Netherlands, where we will be doing this installation of the new cranes, but also taking off the existing cranes. I think I can say that there's a very, very strong cooperation between both the external and internal stakeholders, and that is something we have a very strong focus on.
The first crane has already shipped from Korea and is now in transit to Europe, and we're looking forward to receive that. The second crane is also ready for shipment from Korea as per the plan. And as we have already said, we are expecting to deliver both vessels with the new crane in Q1 next year. And just a few pictures from the crane when they were loaded out in Korea. And of course, another great milestone for us as a company to see everything completed on time, completed on budget, and now being shipped to Europe, ready for installation in the very, very near future. With this said, I will hand over to Peter for a review of the financial results for the first half of 2023.
Yeah. Thank you very much, Mikkel. Yeah, first half of 2023 was a very, very solid, financial result for, for Cadeler due to the, very solid performance of the Cadeler team, both, onshore and offshore. As you can see, revenue increased by EUR 25 million, an increase of 57%, as compared to last year. Very, very impressive, that we achieved 100% of utilization, in 2023. Last year, you know, the Wind Orca vessel was out for planned maintenance in, in the Q1, so that, that should be adjusted for in the comparison, but very, very solid performance. Administrative expenses is increasing, and, in that number of EUR 13 million, we have EUR 3 million Euros of transaction cost, in relation to the Eneti merger.
So adjusted for that, it's EUR 10 million, it's above last year, but it's completely according to our plan of ramping up our organization to be able to take on a full fleet of six vessels and also doing the foundation scopes. EBITDA, adjusted for the transaction cost, is EUR 44 million, as compared to EUR 22 million last year. Very, very solid result. If we look at the balance sheet, it's still a very strong balance sheet with an equity of equity ratio of 80%. You can see current liabilities are only EUR 9 million, so we really think that we are in a strong financial position. Of course, we have the CapEx program on the new builds.
That is very much backloaded, the payment on the new builds that is close to delivery for the remaining part. You can see here the profile. The remaining CapEx is, together with the credits, close to or around EUR 1 billion. So significant CapEx program ahead of us. What we have done is that we have, in line with our hedging policy, hedged 50% of the U.S. dollars exposure on the payments. Our hedging policy is minimum 50%, and then we can go up from there. As of today, we have fixed 60% of the U.S. dollars exposure with the increase in rates we saw over the summer.
We have hedged 50% of the interest exposure, and that is done on a forward starting basis. That means that for example, for the X-class vessels, it will start at delivery, and then it's the rate is fixed for 50%, five years from the start. We experienced very, very strong interest from the banks to participate in the financing. Here's a bit of an update on the funding. It has also been a busy half year on the funding. We have secured a deal. We are working in two parallel lanes because we are looking at both Cadeler on a standalone basis, but also under the merger scenario and securing the financing there.
We can say that we have secured the needed financing in both scenarios. The recent development, we have secured EUR 100 million more in a revolver credit facility, so now it's in total EUR 250 million. Performance guarantee line has indeed been increased, so we are able to pull up more guarantees also for the foundation scopes. Upcoming, which is in progress, and very good progress, on the X-class newbuild finance, we have received commitments from our banks exceeding the facility size needed. Then we are in a progressed discussions on the funding of the crane upgrade.
That would be EUR 100 million with the Danish ECA, IFU. And then we have, we are in discussion with a corporate loan where we have planned a pool of EUR 50 million-EUR 100 million. And that is on a, you could say, a stand-alone, Cadeler stand-alone basis. If we then look at the business combination, then we have secured additionally EUR 100 million, which is committed in credit lines to refinance the Eneti vessels, Zaratan and Scylla. So all in all, we have the financing which is needed in the near future. If we look at the full year guidance, we have updated and increased our guidance due to the very strong results first half year.
Revenue now, EUR 95 million-EUR 103 million. EBITDA, adjusted for transaction costs, EUR 41 million-EUR 49 million. We believe that our estimates that the transaction cost will be to the tune of EUR 5 million. Looking at the half-year result and the full-year result, it's obvious that we do not expect a big earnings in the second half, and that is, of course, due to the crane upgrades, where both vessels go for the crane upgrades, and we will still incur the OpEx, but we will have no significant revenue in Q4. And back to you, Mikkel.
Yes. Thank you, Peter. And I think that also the fact that we are able to work all the way to the crane upgrade really talks to how we are working with our clients early on and also trying to plan this, so we really are working all the way up to the crane upgrade with almost no slippage. And the same was between the projects that we ended in the first half and then starting on new projects. As Peter said, 100% utilization, that is certainly above what we are planning to have.
But that was possible because both the client that delivered the vessel back to us and the client that took the vessel over, they were flexible in us working for both at that point in time to really ensure that we had zero waste of time in the port. In terms of the global outlook for offshore wind, we are still very, very, very positive around what we see. And despite what we have seen on some projects in the market in the last couple of months, there are certainly differences between quality of projects, and also there are difference between different regions, and how those regions will continue to drive.
There will always be, in a new region, some teething issues, and I think that is also what we are seeing in some of these markets. But we are confident with the order backlog we have and the pipeline we have of work, and the cooperation we have with our clients. But all in all, we just want to say that still a very, very strong growth in the market, and at the end of the day, it is of course, always a matter of being part of the best projects out there with the best clients, to ensure that you are set for strong utilization of the vessels, also the vessels we are delivering.
In terms of the growth of the turbines, we still believe that the turbines will continue to grow. Although, just as a note, we are certainly seeing that there will probably be a more moderate pace on the growth of the turbines. But overall, still, we do see growth in the turbine size, but maybe a little bit more moderate development line on the turbines. Also due to the fact that the turbine OEMs, they need to focus on building scale and their production capacity, and ensure that there's the right quality delivered back to the client.
In terms of pipeline and order backlog, we still remain incredibly busy in the company, and this is both on work regarding O&M, it's work regarding the foundation market, and it's regarding the turbine market. So these three areas are all incredibly busy. We have shown in the slide before, it's unchanged in terms of what we are bidding and the projects we are involved in. And I think it's safe to say that we are also seeing new regions becoming much more active, and requiring more capacity from us as a supplier.
We still see also a very strong demand for the longer-term contracts, and we are in discussions with the key clients and partners for potential long-term contracts on our vessel and our fleet. And as I said, also, we have built a very, very strong backlog, and we believe it's a backlog of quality work and with quality clients, which is very, very important for us because, obviously, this is something that we are planning to execute. We will continue the growth journey. This has been the founding principle of the company and also what we have said to you, both analysts and investors and other stakeholders in the company since the beginning.
Those who have seen this slide before will also see that this is, there are numbers here that continue to grow, and that is really what we, what we see as a company as well. We are now above 8 GW installed capacity, and have installed more than 645 turbines, 528 foundations. We are about to have six jackup vessels, and with the combination with Eneti, we will be running with 10 jackup vessels and certainly being a very important supplier to our clients, whom we are focusing on, delivering a very, very strong quality service to. As we say in Cadeler, we are obsessed with the success of our clients, and that is something that we will continue to have as a founding principle in the company.
We also continue to grow the on and offshore organization, and we are coming to the point now where we will also start to look at the many new vessels coming online. And I think it's fair to say that we are very, very confident with what we see in terms of the interest we have from people from outside Cadeler to join the company, both on and offshore. And that brings me into the next point, which is really the foundation of the company remains our people, both on and offshore. And really, it's important for us also to say a very, very strong thank you to everybody in the team.
No matter where you are in the organization, you have all played a role in the result we have achieved, and for the people offshore to keep the vessels, we're working at 100% utilization. It cannot be overestimated or underestimated or whatever you say, how important that is and how strong a performance that is from the team, and how important it is for the result that we are now able to deliver as one team. Also to give you a bit of a view on what it is that we are preparing for, because obviously, we have talked to you in the past about delivering the Hornsea 3 foundation T&I package and what that requires.
We have decided that we wanted to show you the organization we are building up for the foundation scopes that we will be delivering. And obviously, with a bigger fleet and a more diverse fleet, we will have options to look at everything differently, and maybe also having more exposure to the foundation space, which is very, very meaningful for everybody, both in terms of risk and reward balance, but also in terms of how we work with our clients and also the long-term contracts I mentioned in the past.
So we are building up a very, very strong organization, and we are very much looking forward also to be able to complete the merger and the integration process because this is also a space where we certainly would be very, very happy to see more people joining as it is for the entire company. We have been scaling up, and as Peter said, we are exactly where we planned to be. If we take out the transaction cost we have had in the first year, the first half of the year, we have been building up to deliver the vessels that we have on order and also to execute on the contracts we have secured with our clients.
Because obviously, for us as a company, it's very, very important not only to win these projects, but also then to give our clients the certainty that we will be delivering, so we can continue to work on new opportunities with the same client, and give them a feel good feeling about working with us and show them that we have organizational capacity to handle this. This also goes for the new regions that we are working with at the moment. I think that whenever you enter a new region, you need to have a certain organizational float in order to handle what are the requirements in a new region and how do we operate in a new region.
And I think that that is certainly something that has been very meaningful to offshore for us to get that organizational float to really be a better supplier contractor for our clients. Obviously, when we grow as much as we do, we need more space. We are at the moment sitting more or less on top of each other here in our office in Copenhagen. But luckily, we are now doing the refurbishment of our new building where we will be moving into around about the first of March 2024.
That is something that will certainly be good for us as a team because we will then have space to have meetings with our clients and not have so many external locations to work on as we have today, and also a better working conditions for our team. So that's something we are looking very much forward to, and we are hoping that the building that we'll be moving into will give all of our team members a feeling of what it is to be a member of the Cadeler team.
As I said in the past and also still continue to say, we are. We believe that we do have a state-of-the-art fleet, and we are prepared for the future with the vessels we have, with the new cranes we are putting on, and we are just around about a month away from starting that work. But also the vessels that we are taking delivery of, where we are on track with the plan we made with COSCO back in 2021, we still stay on track with that plan, and very, very pleased to say that we are now also even starting the construction of the first F-class early. I think it really goes to say that we have done a lot of work on planning these CapEx projects.
We have spent a lot of resources that you see in our DNA on having the right teams available to support those projects. But we have also said from the outset that it's not enough to order great ships, you also have to deliver them, and we have been very, very, very focused on delivering our CapEx projects, and we remain focused until the day these vessels are delivered, working on the water as we expect, and delivering the success to our clients that we are focusing on delivering. Also focusing on remaining a trusted partner in the industry with all the things that we have said that we want to be known for, you know, transport and installation of WTG foundations, project development, operations and maintenance will play a bigger role of the company.
It's something that we see there's a great demand for out there, and with a bigger fleet, we certainly will be focusing on playing a more active role in that space, and also having a dedicated team focusing on this. We do see that both the turbine OEMs, but also the larger developers, they are very, very keen to discuss with us on strategies for O&M, where potentially there can be made very, very solid contracts for long-term utilization of assets in all regions of the world. And that is something that will be a focus and also something that matches very, very well with the know-how of the company, the team's experience, but also with our sub-suppliers and with our clients.
That whole team integration is something that we will be focusing on a lot. Continuing the growth and widening the scope, as I said, already, it will be T&I on WTGs and foundations. It will be operations and maintenance for the turbines. We are looking into other areas as well, but in general, these are the spaces that we're looking at. We are delivering a lot of new equipment over the next couple of years, new cranes, and up to six new vessels with the merger with Eneti. And of course, that takes a lot of work, but it also gives us a very, very solid position to be a better partner for our clients, and really ensure that we will be delivering on a global scale.
I'm happy to say that we are on plan with the integration and the merger with Eneti, and we will continue to work very, very hard on delivering on our promise to the market, that we are looking to close this in Q4 this year. Happy to say that we're still on plan to deliver that result. With that said, I think that we are ready for the questions.
Thank you, Mikkel. We have a first question here. Is Asia emerging as a more attractive region versus Europe due to permitting and other regulatory issues?
I think that Asia has been emerging as an interesting region for some time. I think that the important and importance in Asia is that it's not just one market anymore. We are seeing four, maybe four and a half markets now emerging out there, and we have said from the outset that that is what is important for us. Because moving a vessel around the globe for one project is not so meaningful from a sustainability point of view, but also not from an operations point of view, or a kind of like fatigue point of view on the assets. So we have always said we are focusing on pipelines, and I think that this is what is really emerging in Asia.
That is a pipeline of work where you potentially can deploy an asset for the life of the asset in that market, and I think that is what makes it really interesting for us.
Great, thanks for that. Another question is, from the merger presentation, you disclosed transaction cost of EUR 60 million. When are this or when is this amount due, and how will this be financed? And is the EUR 3 million reported in H1 part of the original EUR 60 million?
Yes, thank you, Karen. Yes, the EUR 3 million is part of this number. Majority of the cost will be payable upon closing.
Great, thanks. Another question is, can you walk us through the demand and magnitude coming from new regions and perhaps pinpoint the regions you see as the strongest?
Yes. I think that Europe is still by far the strongest market. So that has not changed, and I doubt that that will change in the next years. But we do see that Asia, the U.S., and South America are three regions that are very, very, very strongly demanding capacity as well. In the U.S., it's not a straight line. It will still be some stop-and-go activity there, and I think that the projects are not as firm as what we see in the European market, nor even in the Asian market. So there will be still some teething issues in the US market, in my opinion.
We have said from the outset that we, in the U.S. market, we were taking a bit of a backseat approach, because we wanted to see how things developed before we committed to it. As I said, when you have a backlog of work, you also need to be able to count on this work happening. On the other hand, I think that, when something doesn't go to plan, it also presents an opportunity, and especially an opportunity if you have available capacity. And that is something that I believe that the merged entity will have. And so I think that, you know, there are a lot of opportunities in the current market, and this is something that we will be ready to support our clients to solve.
Sorry, Karen, can I add to the previous question? How will the transaction cost be financed? That is included in the financing that we already have obtained, and it will also be financed through cash operational cash flow, but also Eneti has sold their three NG 2500. So all in all, we have financing in place also for the transaction costs.
Yeah. Thank you.
Great, thanks for that. What do you expect in dayrate levels and implied payback levels when it comes to offshore turbine installation contract awards? Have any expectations changed over the summer, and what implications have you seen from offshore wind farm developers struggling with project economics? Have they made any attempts in renegotiating contracts?
So I can start with the end of that question: No, they have not. But also, we, we don't guide on dayrate levels, and we will continue not to do so, but what we see is a strong development. I think it's still a case that the strongest assets, they command the best rates because they're more effective. So, and it is very meaningful to be more effective on a project, because if you look at a typical turbine installation, it represents around 3% of the CapEx on a project. So to be able to complete this project early and with the early generation of a project, it is very meaningful to take the most efficient solution. So we do see still, very, very strong financials for our vessels, in the market.
Also, I can say again, we have not seen any attempts to renegotiate.
Great, thanks for that. Another question: Is there an estimated timeline for the completion of the merger with Eneti?
Yes, Q4 this year.
Great, thanks. Can you add some light on your expectations of utilization for Scylla, for 2024, and would it be more realistic, with an O&M than a T&I for Scylla?
I will refrain from answering that question because we are operating as two independent companies, so I don't even know what they're planning for Scylla at the moment, so I can't answer the question intelligently. So I refrain from answering that question.
Good to have you, too. Yep. Thanks for that. Sorry. Sentiment in renewables has been weaker, especially with high interest rates and low power prices. Polysilicon prices are off 60%, which can drive marginal demand for solar versus wind. How does this impact recent order growth for yourself, and when do you think full impact of this washes through the market and impacts the tightness?
I think, as I said already, we have not seen any difference in the demand for our services at all, nor for the execution of the projects. The targets remain the same. I would not say that there is not a need for a certain readjustment of some parts of the supply chain. I think that's pretty evident for everybody who follows the industry. But I am fully confident that the projects we are planning and the targets that have been set will still be delivered. So I think that this is a snapshot of where we are at the moment and also the political pressure that is currently being exercised in the industry. And we are not a developer of projects, and that's why we don't engage in those conversations.
What we do as a company is we try to select the best projects with the best clients that will then be executed. And that is also something we said earlier this year, and we remain doing the same.
Thanks for that. How do you see regulatory process pertaining to the merger progressing so far? From other proposed merger transactions in other sectors, we've seen U.K. regulators take a stricter stand than regulatory peers. The U.K. is also the largest offshore wind market in Europe. Have you seen any signs of regulatory headwinds there?
No, we have not. I think that we are working as per our plan. As we said when we announced the business combination on the sixteenth of June, we continue to work with all regulators. We don't have certain prioritizations. We work with all regulators because at the end of the day, we need a fully approved deal from all regulators. And we still don't see any red flags on the path to closing the deal. So we are in a very, very good place, I would say. And I cannot say it any clearer than what I'm doing, that we are expecting to close in Q4 this year.
Super. Thanks. What are you seeing in supply chain issues with clients and potential clients? In particular, are you seeing any impact on project timings?
I do believe that there are some projects that could be delayed. Yes. And as I said also earlier, I think that that represents an opportunity, especially for a company that has a capable available capacity. So again, you know, focusing on the right projects, but then having capacities or service clients that might have issues completing projects or something like that. We saw that actually on the Seagreen project as we presented earlier, where we were able to capture 50% more revenue from the contract than originally planned, and this is not with a 50% extra time commitment, I would like to say. So a better second half of the project than the first half of the project.
I think it represents an opportunity to be at the right time, at the right place, with the right capacity. And that is something that we are looking for because I can say at the moment, the discussions we have most with our clients is really around the whole notion of supply certainty. And that is something that we will be working very actively with. And as a company, we will be able to, especially as a combined company, we will be able to deliver a very, very high degree of redundancy, ensuring that we get this renewable energy installed.
Yes, we just had one more question coming in. Seems to be a lot of potential contract awards this autumn. Do you see the same, and are you considering holding back some of the vessels?
I think that we focus on what I said, you know, the best contracts with the best clients. We contract when contracts are there and when we believe they live up to our standards and what we think is good enough to enter into a contract. But as I have also said on a couple of sentences now in this presentation, we also believe that there is a value in having a degree of spare capacity to service our clients when they need that. And as I said during the presentation at Cadeler, we are obsessed with the success of our clients, and that is something we will continue to focus on.
Thanks for that. Another question just came in: Can you give some more color on compensation structures in hypothetical stress scenarios where contracts are canceled?
No, because they are different from contract to contract. But you can say if it's because a contract is canceled, then you would assume that the company has ensured to protect themselves from the downside risk. I cannot say what others are doing, but I can say that we are certainly putting very strict clauses into our contracts in terms of protecting the downside risk should that unlikely event be real. But obviously, there's also the upside. If a contract is delayed due to something that is not due to us, let's say, for example, installing turbines and the foundations are delayed, or we are installing foundations and the foundations are delayed because it's not our scope to deliver the foundations, so we would have to stay longer in order to do that.
And then there are certain measures in place on the contract that would ensure a fair, let's say, remuneration for the extra effort.
Thanks for the answer, both. We went through all the questions, so at this point, no more questions.
Perfect. Thanks a lot for listening in, then, and have a beautiful day ahead.
Thank you, everybody.