Noble Receives Long-Term Capital from GE, Others for NY Windparks

Wind energy developer Noble Environmental Power has received long-term capital for its 330-megawatt (MW) wind power projects in western and northern New York state from GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE).

GE invested more than $200 million in the portfolio, which includes the Noble Altona, Chateaugay and Wethersfield Windparks. A syndicate of banks and financial institutions provided long-term debt, including letters of credit, totaling approximately $440 million.

This long-term capital structure replaces construction financing used to build the Noble windparks. The deal has garnered two prestigious industry awards from Project Finance International and Project Finance Magazine for its innovative structure, according to a release.

Citibank NA acted as Administrative Agent for the lending syndicate which consists of Citicorp, Inc., HSH Nordbank (Documentation Agent), The Royal Bank of Scotland (Syndication Agent), Lloyds TSB Bank, The Prudential Insurance Company, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, ING Capital, Export Development Canada and Dekabank Deutsche Girozentale.

The three windparks–the 97.5 MW Noble Altona Windpark, located in Clinton County; the 106.5 MW Noble Chateaugay Windpark, located in Franklin County; and the 126 MW Noble Wethersfield Windpark, located in Wyoming County — employ 220 GE turbines. Together, the windparks generate enough clean energy to supply the electricity needs of 110,000 average homes. The projects deliver power to the New York State Independent System Operator (NYISO) controlled wholesale power grid.

Noble’s US generation portfolio consists of 726 MW. Outside the state of New York, Noble owns and operates the Great Plains Windpark in Texas, with a total capacity of 114 MW.

Noble is majority owned by funds affiliated with JPMorgan Partners, LLC, which are managed by CCMP Capital Advisers, LLC. Noble was founded in 2004 in response to public policy initiatives designed to foster the increased use of renewable energy sources. The company is based in Essex, CT.