Champlin Windpower, an developer of large-scale wind farms, announced that it has secured an initial investment of up to $50 million from Good Energies, a investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The financing will fund the growth and development activities of what will now be known as Champlin-GEI Wind Holdings, and will support a team that is committed to building an industry leading wind energy development platform.
Champlin-GEI Wind Holdings will focus on developing 100 MW to 500 MW wind projects in the Western U.S., including existing projects in California, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii. Good Energies investment will support both the acquisition and development of new projects as well as the advancement of Champlin s existing 4 GW pipeline of projects, which is comprised of early through late stage wind developments.
Good Energies is excited to be partnering with Mike Cutbirth and Champlin to build out wind projects in the Western U.S. We believe the wind market in North America is poised for tremendous growth and the Champlin team is strongly positioned to take advantage of a robust future, said Ian Blakely, Director of North American wind investments at Good Energies. Good Energies has a track record of investing in innovative, market leading renewable energy companies globally. This investment in Champlin, like our recently announced one in the Atlantic Wind Connection backbone transmission project, is yet another example of our strategy in practice.
Champlin-GEI Wind Holdings will manage and perform all development activities required to bring its projects from conception to construction, including siting, environmental permitting, securing transmission, contract negotiations and arranging construction and project financing. The founder of Champlin Windpower, Mike Cutbirth, has more than 16 years of experience in the wind energy business, initially heading up finance at Zond and Enron Wind and subsequently serving as President of Clipper Windpower. Mr. Cutbirth is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Wind Energy Association.
The formation of Champlin-GEI Wind Holdings coincides with a robust expansion of the wind industry. This trend is driven by declining costs of wind energy due to an impressive improvement in the technology over time, concerns over carbon and green house gas emissions from fossil fuels, volatile fossil fuel prices, power shortages and political instability in the major petroleum producing regions of the world, said Mr. Cutbirth, Chief Executive Officer of Champlin-GEI Wind Holdings. The recent financial crisis and difficult economic times has led to a shortage of development capital and as a result many good wind projects have not been funded and developed. It is widely recognized that wind energy is a vital component of the United States low-carbon energy future. With the support of Good Energies, our company will play a prominent role in that future through the strategic development of wind projects in areas of the western and central U.S. that have strong wind resources and increasing demand for renewable power.
