Monday, December 19, 2011

First Wind powers Wash. wind project with $210M funding

By Michelle Lang

Boston-based wind energy company First Wind Holdings Inc. has taken in a $210 million funding to support its subsidiary, Palouse Wind LLC. The Portland, Ore.-based subsidiary will use the financing to continue building its 105 MW Palouse Wind project in Whitman County, Washington, the company said in a news release today.

The $210 million funding includes a construction and term facility loan of $170 million, plus up to $40 million in lines of credit. The Palouse Wind project has 58 Vestas 1.8 MW wind turbines, generating about 105 MW of power in total, to be used in providing electricity for residential and commercial applications. The wind project, which may be working by the end of 2012, is expected to bring in about $12 million in property tax revenue over the next 20 years for the county.

First Wind, an independent wind company, provides the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of U.S.-based utility-scale wind projects. The company operates several large wind farms in Maine and is also developing a 40-megawatt wind farm in Sheffield, Vt.,  and a 60-megawatt project in Penobscot County, Maine.  In May, it raised $200 million by issuing notes through its subsidiary First Wind Capital LLC, which the company said it would use to pay down debt and finance new wind projects.