Friday, August 29, 2008

First Wind gains tax equity funds for N.Y. project

By Mass High Tech Staff

Wind developer First Wind Inc. has brought in an undisclosed amount of tax equity funding from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. for its 20 megawatt Steel Winds wind power project in Lackawanna, N.Y.

The Steel Winds project, which started in 2006 and became commercially operational in 2007, is an eight turbine facility generating more than 50 million kilowatt hours of electricity (enough to power about 9,000 New York homes, according to company documents). The facility was built on a former Bethlehem Steel industrial site on the U.S. shore of Lake Erie, and the 2.5 megawatt Clipper “Liberty” turbines were the first produced at Clipper Windpower Plc’s Cedar Rapids, Iowa, facility.

Originally founded as UPC Wind in 1995, First Wind has amassed a portfolio of wind projects across the country representing 92 megawatts of power in operation and 182 megawatts under construction. In early August, the company filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expressing its intent to execute a $450 million initial public offering, though no offering date or share price has been announced.

First Wind is best known locally for its 42-megawatt Mars Hill Wind Farm in Maine but also operates other projects in the Northeast, as well as in the Midwest and Hawaii.

According to its filings, the company has set a goal of reaching approximately 1,100 megawatts of operating capacity by the end of 2010 and 2,300 megawatts by 2013.

Financially, First Wind reported $12.3 million in revenue in 2007, with a net loss of $68 million. The company employs approximately 130 people.