First Wind announced that it has obtained $76 million in financing for the company’s 40-megawatts (MW) Sheffield Wind project.
With financing in place, First Wind said it will continue on schedule with construction of the largest wind energy project to date in Vermont. Construction began in September, 2010.
As part of the financing, First Wind closed a $71.3 million non-recourse construction loan and a $4.5 million letter of credit facility for the Sheffield Wind project. KeyBank National Association served as the sole lead arranger for the financing. In addition to the financing, JPM Capital Corporation has executed a tax equity financing agreement for up to $60 million with a subsidiary of First Wind. When the project goes into commercial operation, JPM Capital Corporation will provide long-term capital to take out a large portion of the construction loan, with the remaining portion converting to a term loan with Keybank.
“This is an important milestone in the development and construction of our Sheffield Wind project,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of First Wind. “This financing shows that the capital markets recognize that this is a strong, well-planned project and that wind power is viable in Vermont.”
Since the end of September, First Wind has raised $435 million in financings and repaid $149 million in short-term turbine supply loans. Financings include the funds for the Sheffield Wind project; $98 million for the Rollins Wind project in Penobscot County, Maine; $247 million for the 68-turbine expansion of its Milford Wind project in Utah; and $15 million for its Steel Winds facility in Lackawanna, New York. First Wind has raised more than $2.7 billion in financings since January 2009.
In November, First Wind halted plans for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, when shares did not price as high as the company hoped they would.
Located in the Town of Sheffield in the Northeast Kingdom, the project will bring clean, renewable power to Vermont homes and businesses. Sheffield Wind has the capacity to generate enough power for more than 15,000 Vermont homes–or about 45 percent of the homes in the Northeast Kingdom. The renewable power generated by the project will be sold through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to three Vermont utilities including the Burlington Electric Department (BED), the Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc. (VEC) and the Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WEC).
During construction, it is estimated that the project will create about 200 wind jobs. Once it is operational, the Town of Sheffield will receive $520,000-a-year in tax revenues, which can be used toward roads, schools, police, fire and more. The general contractor on the project, RMT, Inc., began construction on the project in mid-September and is hiring many Vermont-based businesses and subcontractors to work on the project. The project is expected to be online and operating sometime in the fall of 2011.
First Wind currently has four projects with a capacity to generate up to 232 MW of power in various stages of construction. In addition, construction of a battery storage system is underway for a fifth project, a 21 MW expansion of a project in Hawaii.
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